To celebrate both Gucci’s 90th anniversary and the 150th year of a unified Italy, the firm’s creative director, Frida Giannini, has collaborated with international man of mystery and heir to the Fiat legacy Lapo Elkann to create the Fiat 500 by Gucci, a new style icon in the world of automobiles. Elkann’s creative agency Independent Ideas worked with the legendary fashion house on this neo-classic special edition, the subject of The Race, a short film shot exclusively for Dazed by fashion photographer Will Davidson.

Dazed & Confused: What was your design philosophy when approaching the 500 by Gucci collaboration?
Frida Giannini: We didn’t want to create a new 
shape because the shape 
is already so right. Instead, we wanted to customise it as if it were a makeover. 
We gave it green and red lines around the outside of the car and on the seat belts, Guccissima-print Poltrona Frau leather two-tone seats, green brake callipers and special Gucci rims. It’s full of rich details.

D&C: When did your relationship with Fiat 500 and Lapo begin?
Frida Giannini: This product and our friendship took off over a bowl of tomato-and-basil spaghetti in Lapo’s Rome residence. We joined forces because we strongly believe that the Fiat 500 and Gucci are two unique Italian brands.

D&C: What defines the revolutionary identity of Italian fashion in 2012?
Frida Giannini: Duality: the ability to look ahead without losing sight of the past.

D&C: What defines an icon to you?
Frida Giannini: An icon is something that lasts forever.

Dazed & Confused: How important is this collaboration to you?
Lapo Elkann: Being Italian, I’m proud that the 500 by Gucci perfectly symbolises the savoir-faire our country still has to offer and which we have to defend.

D&C: How are you inspired by wanderlust, elegance and refinement?
Lapo Elkann: I was certainly very lucky as I was brought up in a privileged environment where beautiful objects, works of art and houses were certainly quite special. My eye had the chance to be educated by beauty at its extremes. But most inspiration comes from what a day in my life offers. The streets I walk and the people I meet are an endless and exciting world of inspiration.

D&C: Can you tell us about the design details that inspire you in the 500 by Gucci?
Lapo Elkann: It was amazing to see the technological side of the automotive industry merging together with a fashion-oriented one, giving life to a car which respects both brands’ DNA. One that reinterprets some iconic elements of the Fiat and Gucci worlds.

D&C: What defines an icon to you?
Lapo Elkann: The old, the new and the 500 by Gucci. It has all the elements that defines un’icona!

500bygucci.com/shortvideos