Alessandro Michele has taken Gucci from nearly extinct to an Italian stallion. Right now, Gucci is the queen bee, spectacular serpent and king of the luxury fashion jungle.
As with any top banana, or in this case, a crowned pineapple, Alessandro Michele didn’t want his highly prized collections discounted. This past season, sale season was limited to select group of top Gucci clients. If you weren’t on the list you couldn’t access the sale merchandise online or in boutiques.
Gucci’s warehouse in Secucus, NJ has traditionally been the home to the under-the-radar Gucci Outlet. It had been years since we have taken the outlet trip through the tunnel but the seductiveness of this pas sale season piqued our curiosity, which resulted in a recent road trip.
Over the holiday weekend, the outlet store was not very crowded, which was a good thing. Upon entering, we went straight to the back to browse the selection of shoes for both men and women, Unfortunately, there were no iconic styles available. As a matter of fact, the selection looked more like the discount assortment found DSW than a Gucci boutique.
Among the most reduced merchandise was a table of boots, shoes and sandals that were an additional 50% off or a total of 80% off retail. We found several horsebit style high boots that were priced at about $600. A version in python was $800 from $3500 and pointed-toe booties were $450.
Other outlet shoes were discounted just 50% off retail. The selection includes, various styles with the the Shanghi Blooms print from Cruise ’16 and toile print espadrilles. There were also a variety of shoes with an oversized horsebit and metallic sandals with a heavy stacked heel. Click here to see pictures of the shoes at the Gucci outlet.
The clothing assortment was much better but the discount is the same 50% off as the shoes. We found a pink coat with green fur cuffs that is priced at $2850 from $5700 and a pink tweed and mink jacket is $2500 from about $5000. Both are from the 2016 cruise collection. There are also items from fall 2015 but the discount is still just 50%. You can click here to see pictures of some of the best clothing items at the outlet.
Now, to the unfortunate story of bags. The discount is less than than the first markdown at most stores and the selection isn’t very good. There are blossoms, double-Gs and Arabesque style bags. There are also some older styles that are classic to the Gucci brand but still not very desirable. Here are pics.
We can’t say that the shopping trip was very fruitful. As a matter of fact, we didn’t leave the store with any shopping bags. On the bright side, the Gucci warehouse outlet is still alive and kicking. We might try again in a few seasons when Gucci mania dies down and the warehouse begins to fill with past season merchandise.
Click over to see pictures from our shopping trip or scroll above to shop past season merchandise online.
