Gucci launches virtual shopping service

Gucci has launched a virtual shopping service.

The Italian fashion brand is adapting to the Covid-19 pandemic by introducing Gucci Live, which will allow customers to speak directly with store staff through video chat.

At the moment, Gucci is trialling the initiative in a high-tech 'fake store' in Florence, which features high definition cameras and clear lighting, ChargedRetail reports.

However, Gucci has plans to open five similar stores, in New York, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo.

Meanwhile, Gucci's creative director Alessandro Michele recently admitted he doesn't believe that Fashion Week will be possible in September due to the Covid-19 pandemic and he wants to choose another date for his catwalk shows.

He said: ''I don't think we will meet in person next time. We have been shut down for a long time so I don't think we will have a regular calendar for September. I want to recover a new kind of time - real and practical - so we'll choose another date.''

The Covid-19 lockdown has made Alessandro re-evaluate how the Italian fashion house operates and one of the first major changes he has decided to make is to cut back on Gucci shows to just twice a year, which he hopes other labels will also do.

Speaking to Vogue.co.uk, Alessandro said: ''We are a big brand, so we have a responsibility to take care of our industry. We need to give it the time that's needed. The things we make have a longer life than what we have allotted to them in the past.

"We all agree that fall and spring are the most appropriate [time frames] to show our work, but I hope that other brands will follow us so we can have an open dialogue to arrange new dates.''