Aja Barber: 'Why I Went To The Gucci Cruise Party For The Food'
All of the beautiful people of London were out earlier this week, pretending like it was Friday at the Gucci Cruise 2025 show. The Tate Modern was transformed into the world’s biggest nightclub, which is a pretty magical feat on its own. How exactly does one make a disco ball that big? It was truly the biggest star of the evening in my opinion. Well, that and the canapés.
I went to the Gucci party for the food. Okay, and to get a glimpse of music producer and rapper Kaytranada, but mostly for the food. The thing is, unlike the famous Kate Moss mantra ‘nothing taste as good as skinny feels’, I would contend that risotto served in the beating heart of a uber-glamorous gathering tastes pretty good indeed. And there was loads of it going around. One of the perks of not really fitting into the majority of Gucci’s clothes (I’m a UK size 20), means that at parties like this I’m happily chasing plates.
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I tend to treat these events as a social experiment. Of course I want to be invited, I’m only human, but I don’t consider myself among the hordes of guests of pretty people. I’m more like an avid watcher, spotting the rarest of birds.
But one thing you can always count on for a Gucci party is that there will be food. And that the food will be good. And that Camille Charrière will be there on the dance floor making friends with everyone.
I knew when I saw the first bowls of risotto appear that it was 'on'. The risotto came with a giant Parmesan flake which you could break up yourself. There was also a burrata salad making the rounds which I practically pushed someone, it could have been Alexa Chung, out of the way to get to. It was worth it; they were beautiful tomatoes. I believe I also chased the servers for an aubergine taco, and some sort of phenomenal corn pastry.
God bless those catering staff for delivering, all the while dressed impeccably and putting up with true drunken nonsense. At one point in the middle of the evening guests began falling over the black sofas which blended in with their surroundings. I saw a grown man fully wipe-out before dusting himself off like it was no big deal because, well, a certain amount of drunk means that you bounce like a toddler. Incredible.
At this point in proceedings the dance floor was really heating up, and Moss made several appearances in the DJ booth with Mark Ronson. Now I’m certainly not one to begrudge anyone their phone stuff, I do after all have a social media platform, but moments like this really make me realise how much our devices are turning us into slack-jawed weirdos. Every time the supermodel would appear, phones would be yanked out of pockets, eyes would glaze over and people would become absolute zombies, so desperate to capture evidence that they were there among the stars that they forgot to have a good time and enjoy the party that they were at. Come on people, there’s still canapés circulating, focus!
Anyway, back to the main event: The food. At this point I was starting to turn into a pumpkin. I really can’t do late nights these days. I got out of the messy pit of drunk dancing and moved towards the back so I could get some water. But on my way to the door, I saw some new little cartons going around… I almost took a mini burger for the road, but didn't want to waste it if it were meat.
On the way home, while digesting, my mind turned to the bigger issues. Was the denim on the runway made out of up-cycled material? Some of my favourite denim brands are. And I couldn't stop thinking about the beautiful set, featuring 10,000 plants which I learned would be donated to a community project in London. Now that's what I'm talking about.
Please Gucci, give me more beautiful fashion and sustainability pieces to lust after - and another round of risotto.
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