On view through September 23 in Tokyo, Gucci welcomes visitors to a landmark exhibition entitled “Bamboo 1947: Then And Now Celebrating 60 Years Of Gucci In Japan.” Nestled in the heart of the city’s bustling Ginza district, the show blends Gucci’s traditional Italian craftsmanship with a global innovative eye. The vast exhibition spans two floors of the gallery and features collaborations with renowned Japanese artists—including Morihito Katsura, Ai Tokeshi, Hirotsune Nakazato, Daido Moriyama, Yui Yaegashi, and Nami Yokoyama—that serve as testament to the fashion house’s deep roots in Japan over six decades.
Bamboo 1947: A Symbol of Gucci
Courtesy of Gucci.
Courtesy of Gucci.
Throughout the exhibition, the maison illuminates its renowned Gucci Bamboo 1947 bag—a timeless Gucci silhouette paired with a signature bamboo handle. An ode to the lightweight material used by Guccio Gucci and his Florentine artisans during the bag’s eponymous creation year, the piece has remained a unique staple within Gucci’s collections.
Over the past decades, succeeding creative directors have meshed the design into their creative pursuits at the maison. In 2022, for example, then-creative director Alessandro Michele took the distinguishable bamboo handle to the Gucci Diana Collection, which resulted in a contemporary iteration of the timeless design.
Miley Cyrus at the 2024 Grammy Awards with the Gucci Bamboo 1947, courtesy of Gucci, photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy.
Daisy Edgar Jones with the Gucci Bamboo 1947, courtesy of Gucci.
In recent years, the Bamboo 1947 design has been sported by a range of familiar faces, including Miley Cyrus at the 2024 Grammy Awards, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Julia Garner, and Gigi Hadid.
Gucci’s Japanese Anniversary Imagines New Perspectives
Courtesy of Gucci.
An ode to the Gucci Bamboo 1947 legacy, Gucci’s Tokyo exhibition features a plethora of the brand’s iconic bamboo bags–from Florentine archival pieces to 2024 recreations. On the gallery’s sixth floor, visitors are invited to view approximately 400 Gucci Bamboo 1947 handbags that provide a vivid retrospective of the maison’s handbag craftsmanship over the years. A 1959 archival Bamboo 1947 piece contrasts with another recent bag created by Gucci’s current Creative Director Sabato De Sarno specifically for the exhibition.
Six Artists Who Reimagined Bamboo 1947 Bags
With its celebration of 60 years in Japan, Gucci recruited a group of six local Japanese artists to reimagine the classic Gucci Bamboo 1947 design, selected by de Sarno. With each piece, the Italian fashion house delved into the rich history of Japanese craftsmanship, from lacquerware to ceramics.
Morihito Katsura
Courtesy of Gucci.
Master goldsmith Morihito Katsura and his apprentice Naoko Ai have fused the Italian maison’s iconic Bamboo 1947 silhouette with traditional Japanese gold chasing and inlaying mechanisms. The bags feature bamboo handles and closures adorned in precious metals, the product of goldsmith techniques from the classical Japanese Heian Period.
Ai Tokeshi
Courtesy of Gucci.
Courtesy of Gucci.
Ai Tokeshi’s Gucci Bamboo 1947 recreation marks the artist’s first project with leather. A renowned lacquer artist, Tokeshi has been consistently inspired and influenced by the history and culture behind traditional Japanese Ryukyu lacquer coating processes, which she integrates into her artistic approach. Tokeshi’s Gucci recreation blends the classic bag with stunning lacquerware, bringing traditional techniques to Gucci’s contemporary exhibit.
Hirotsune Nakazato
Courtesy of Gucci.
Courtesy of Gucci.
Porcelain artist Hirotsune Nakazato takes his expert hand-building ceramics skills to Gucci. The Nakazato family has worked with traditional ceramics and painting work for 16 generations, allowing Nakazato to shepherd centuries of inherited craftsmanship, high-quality materials, and aesthetic beauty into his stunning Gucci Bamboo 1947 handles and closures.
Daido Moriyama
Courtesy of Gucci.
Best known for his black and white photography, the Gucci Bamboo 1947 bag is Daido Moriyama’s latest printing canvas for his iconic works. The bags showcase Moriyama’s spirited works that capture a wide range of unique views, from a bustling city street to an intimate face closeup. The artist’s black and white imagery provides a striking contrast with the Bamboo 1947 bag’s brown bamboo handle and closure.
Yui Yaegashi
Courtesy of Gucci.
Courtesy of Gucci.
“Bamboo 1947: Then and Now” also features bags designed by Japan’s abstract painter Yui Yaegashi. In her painterly process, Yaegashi’s compact works are concerned with freehand brushwork and layered material. Each canvas depicts the artist’s unique aptitude for color, transparency, texture, and smoothness, which she equally communicates in her beautiful paintwork bags.
Nami Yokoyama
Courtesy of Gucci.
Nami Yokoyama brings her exquisite Neon paintings to Gucci’s Bamboo 1947 bags. Inspired by the glowing details behind every bulb of light, the 11 black bags project bright sayings including “Love,” “Sky,” and “Moment.” With each piece, Yokoyama portrays the beauty of her unwavering photorealistic painting style on the bag’s rich leather material.
Gucci Brings “Gucci Icons” to Vision Pro
Courtesy of Gucci.
In addition to its Tokyo exhibition, Gucci celebrates the newest addition to the Gucci App for Vision Pro. With “Gucci Icons,” the fashion house invites users to explore Gucci’s luxury craftsmanship in unprecedented depth. Iconic products like the Gucci Bamboo 1947 are available in this new three-dimensional simulation, bringing Gucci’s archive into an interactive digital space.
