The much-admired music star Billie Eilish is not new to Gucci. We saw her in a Gucci Eyewear campaign by Harley Weir in early September 2022, playing off Alessandro Michele’s old-Hollywood season.

Applause for Billie

Billie is back at Gucci and let’s applaud that move. Without question Billie is a bridge between the respective visions of the two creative directors — Alessandro Michele and now Sabato De Sarno.

New Gucci seemed not to have figured out that ‘heart’ is not a marketing word, but a living and breathing, emotional feeling. Whatever your opinion, the former talent’s Gucci was long on heart.

Billie absolutely signals ‘heart’ in today’s work-in-progress Gucci renovation. She can do no damage and only help the brand recapture some of the emotion not on display in 2023, marketing word salads aside.

Is Gucci Another Nike for Billie?

Billie may be launching a relationship with Gucci, similar to the one she has with Nike. Yes, Billie Eilish will promote products, but they must have green cred. An unsustainable sneaker with sustainable shoelaces does not qualify. To her credit, before Billie will do a followup campaign with Nike on the same sneaker, it MUST have taken another step forward towards full sustainability.

What a great way to keep the pressure on Ms. Eilish.

In Praise of Demetra

For Gucci, Billie Eilish has teamed up on a greenish version of their iconic Horsebit 1955 bag. The new version is crafted from Demetra, a 75% plant-based, animal-free material that has been produced in Italy since 2021.

Gucci launched sneakers made of Demetra two years ago. The bags also use recycled ECONYL nylon made from regenerated ghost nets, carpets, and pre-consumer waste. Prada and Burberry were leaders in the development of ECONYL with products coming to market in 2019. Demetra is tanned in accordance with Gucci’s century-old standard practices.

The asymmetrical handbags come in either a black, faux-leather design with a silver chain or a tan, Gucci logo-patterned design. The former is priced at $3,500 on the brand's website, while the latter is available for $3,200.

The Gucci Horsebit 1955 bag is a grade A collaboration with Billie, who is photographed by Tyrell Hampton [IG] in upbeat, perhaps a bit silly but definitely relaxed images. Many of the images are generic Gucci brand images and the bag is absent.