For the 70th anniversary of the iconic Gucci Horsebit Loafer, the Italian house dedicated its entire Milan Fashion Week presentation to the footwear classic. Created in 1953 by Aldo Gucci, the Horsebit Loafer has since become a staple of menswear culture: Brad Pitt’s Tyler Durden wore them in Fight Club as did Matt Dillon in Drugstore Cowboy, Fred Astaire and Alain Delon.

Titled Gucci Horsebeat Society, this season’s installation at Milan’s Spazio Maiocchi featured commissions by ten artists, each reinterpreting the Horsebit Loafer through their own creative sensibility – creating a series of immersive and surreal worlds. Brooklyn-based Russian architect and artist Harry Nuriev translated the Horsebit to furniture design, British photographer and filmmaker Bolade Banjo traced the Horsebit’s story through a looping film. Australian artist Ed Davis covered one space in Horsebit collage wallpaper, and light sculptures by South Korean designer Gyuhan Lee shone a light (literally) on Gucci’s changing logos. Room-to-room, pieces from Gucci’s SS24 menswear collection were displayed throughout: relaxed tailoring, pleated shorts and logo co-ords. Digital horsebit interpretations created all-over prints alongside elongated shirts, wide-leg jeans and wide-collar jackets, folky distressed knitwear and – spectacularly – a shimmering, embellished shirt, trouser and footwear look that looked like it was crafted from one million fragmented mirrorballs.