Gucci Teams Up With Billie Eilish To Roll Out Animal-Free Bag
Image via Gucci
Gucci’s trying not to be a bad guy. On Monday, the fashion house introduced the latest iteration of its famed Horsebit 1955 bag. While sporting similar details to other items from the range, such as the unmistakable monogram fabric and metallic hardware, the new handbag is lined with a special Demetra material instead of leather.
The uniquely asymmetrical silhouette first reached the hands of Billie Eilish as part of a collaboration between the two names. The singer, a known vegan, has famously convinced fashion designer Oscar de la Renta to completely abandon fur. So it comes as no surprise that she was enlisted by Gucci to be the one and only face of the campaign for the all-new Horsebit 1955 style, one of the designs the brand has dreamed up to mark the classic’s 70th anniversary.
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Demetra, developed in-house by the Italian house, is an animal-free alternative crafted from up to 77% plant-based raw materials, including non-GMO wheat and corn, as well as plant-based viscose and wood pulp. The other part of the composition uses fossil fuel-derived materials.
Gucci ditched fur in 2021, and Demetra is one of its other solutions to becoming more circular. It says it is working to one day eliminate the fossil fuel-based components of its leather substitute, according to Diet Prada.
Demetra is produced in one of Gucci’s factories in Italy “using the same expertise and processes for tanning that give the material its pliable and resilient performance with a supple finish,” the company explains on Equilibrium, its website centered around corporate social responsibility.
Image vi Gucci
The new Horsebit 1955, with a slanted silhouette, arrives in two options. There’s the classic monogram version in a small shoulder bag size, priced at US$3,200, and an all-black mini shoulder style with a silver chain, which is going for US$3,500.
Image via Gucci
The Eilish-starring campaign, set to her iconic What Was I Made For? song from the Barbie movie, sees the singer dressed to the nines in Gucci logo prints, with a few hands-on glimpses of the new handbag.
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Gucci adds that it has also made a “significant” donation to Support And Feed, an organization founded by Eilish’s mother Maggie Baird aimed at creating a “global shift” in tackling food insecurity and the climate crisis through plant-based avenues.
[via Fashionista, Billboard, Diet Prada, images via Gucci]
