At Milan’s Chiostri di San Simpliciano during Salone, Gucci presents seven artist and designer commissions exploring the possibilities of bamboo
Queues of suave, sunglasses-clad people snake down the street. Gucci bags of all shapes and sizes are strapped to arms like prized accessories in a fashion safari. It’s packed, of course – it’s a Gucci event during Salone, and everyone wants a peek (or a selfie, depending on the mood).
Gucci’s Bamboo Encounters, staged within the cloisters of Milan’s Chiostri di San Simpliciano until 13 April, is a sensory shift from the surrounding frenzy. Here, bamboo shoots sprout through gravel beds; strange forms hang from ancient walls; light glows softly against decaying frescoes. It’s part serene sanctuary, part design daydream. Everything on show explores the symbolic and structural significance of bamboo – its legacy rooted in the 1947 Bamboo Bag, and its future imagined through seven very different artistic lenses. Curated by Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli of architecture and research studio 2050+, the exhibition shows the strength of bamboo as a sustainable resource and a medium through which to think about ecology, craft and collective memory.
Bamboo is something of a design shapeshifter. It’s fast-growing, lightweight, surprisingly strong and endlessly versatile. It’s these qualities that have made it a favourite across disciplines, from scaffolding in architecture to slatted chairs in sun-drenched courtyards. In interiors, its warm tones and natural texture lend a calming, almost meditative quality to a space. Think spa energy, but with structural integrity. In fashion, bamboo fibres are spun into fabrics prized for their softness, breathability and gentle touch on the skin. Perfect for the kinds of garments no one sees but everyone appreciates (underwear, socks, T-shirts). Its moisture-wicking, antibacterial properties even make it fit for the gym, if you’re so inclined. And with low water needs and zero pesticides, bamboo ticks all the sustainability boxes, which is even more proof that going green doesn’t have to mean going drab.
Gucci’s pioneering use of bamboo began in 1947 with the creation of the Bamboo Bag. During the post-war period, traditional materials were scarce, prompting Gucci’s artisans to explore alternative resources. They discovered that bamboo could be heated and bent into a durable, curved handle, leading to the birth of said Bamboo Bag. This design addressed both the material shortages and also introduced a distinctive aesthetic that became synonymous with Gucci. Over the years, the Bamboo Bag has been reimagined in various forms, maintaining its status as an emblem of Gucci’s heritage and artistry.
So across the must-see exhibition, bamboo’s versatility is explored at length – at times poetically, elsewhere with precision-engineered resolve. Swedish-Chilean artist Anton Alvarez, known for his eccentric machines that extrude colourful furniture from string and glue, presents a bronze fountain inspired by the watery ecosystems of bamboo forests. The piece carries his signature logic of mechanical improvisation while evoking the meditative rhythms of a garden spring. It’s a play between man-made process and natural flow, and utterly meditative.
Dima Srouji, a Palestinian architect and founder of Hollow Forms Studio, contributes a quietly powerful installation combining found bamboo baskets with hand-blown glass forms made by artisans in the West Bank. Her work often dwells on archaeological traces and material histories – and here, bamboo speaks to fragile geographies and the endurance of craft in politically fractured landscapes.
Dutch collective Kite Club, comprising designers Bertjan Pot, Liesbeth Abbenes and Maurice Scheltens, brings a lighter, wind-borne reading to the material. Their handmade kites float in the wind (on a particularly cloudy and breezy day in Milan, I might add). They’re sleek, aerodynamic and colourful, celebrating bamboo’s historical use in flight, but also its role in play, resistance and communal experience. Meanwhile, Vienna-based designer Laurids Gallée, who often fuses traditional techniques with high-tech materials, presents resin furniture that references the structural elegance of bamboo without mimicking it outright. His pieces, translucent and grid-like, glow faintly under light, hovering between sculpture and utility.
Memphis Group alum Nathalie Du Pasquier, one of Milan’s most quietly radical figures, contributes PASSAVENTO – a layered installation of bamboo and silk panels that filter light like folding screens. Du Pasquier has always worked between disciplines, from painting to textile to industrial design, and this piece is no different: its opaque white translucent, structured and soft. Korean designer Lee Sisan, whose practice spans traditional craft and parametric design, debuts a set of aluminium furniture engraved with bamboo motifs. Her work often nods to the heritage of Korean joinery while also using modern fabrication tools. Here, the cold gleam of metal is warmed by rhythmic, almost calligraphic surface patterns, drawing out a contrast that’s hard to miss.
Finally, design duo The Back Studio – comprising Eugenio Rossi and Yaazd Contractor – offers a neon installation that outlines the silhouette of bamboo stems in acid-bright tubes, suspended like botanical blueprints in space. Known for blending pop culture references with sculptural installations, their work here speaks to the tension between nature and artifice, and how tradition might be lit anew through contemporary eyes.
Together, the seven commissions within Bamboo Encounters form a polyphonic meditation on bamboo as a material and metaphor. It also provokes a splendid dialogue between Gucci’s historical use of bamboo and those working in the contemporary design landscape. So, by inviting artists to reinterpret this material, we see themes of sustainability, innovation and cultural exchange brought to the fore. Not to mention Gucci’s ongoing efforts to explore new creative horizons while, of course, honouring its rich heritage.
So if you haven’t already, best get in line – bamboo’s having a moment, and Gucci’s not about to let it pass quietly.
Bamboo Encounters is running until 13 April. Find out more about the event here.
