Last night, Gucci took over London with a star-studded show held at the Tate Modern. The event marked the first Cruise show for creative director Sabato De Sarno, who joined the brand last year, and who welcomed the likes of Kate Moss, Dua Lipa, Daisy Edgar Jones and Little Simz to the front row.

The collection was described as “Englishness with an Italian accent”, which resulted in a show full of purposeful contradictions, subverting traditional dress codes and celebrating the crossing of cultures. There was a “sense of tension between different ideas and ideals, different identities,” explained the accompanying show notes. Workwear was fused with street style; fragile pieces had a tough edge; traditional British textures like tartan and tailoring were given a re-energised Gucci twist.

The Italian house has deep ties to the UK capital; it was during his time as a hotel porter at The Savoy in 1889 that a young Guccio Gucci decided to launch his own luxury leather-goods company, inspired as he was by all the well-heeled visitors that checked in and out.

“I owe a lot to this city, it has welcomed and listened to me,” said De Sarno. “The same is true for Gucci, whose founder was inspired by his experience there. The House’s return is driven by a desire to be immersed in its distinctive essence, its creative driving force with its limitless capability to put together contrasts, make them converse, and find ways to coexist. Today we are here to celebrate that spirit. Tate Modern is the perfect cross-section to narrate the city’s essence, with its great Turbine Hall that welcomes and gathers everyone.”

See highlights from the London Cruise show spectacle here: