Gucci's spin on the Fiat 500

Daily Fashion Juice
Friday, August 19, 2011

Is Gucci's spin on the Fiat 500 set to make the car New York Fashion Week's hottest accessory?

By Daisy Dumas

It is a car built with the uber chic roads of Milan in mind.

But the new Fiat 500 has taken many a fashionable city by storm.

Now, the Italian icon is having a Gucci makeover and the special edition retro design will hit the streets of New York during Fashion Week.

Wheels on fire: The lovechild of Gucci and Fiat, the limited edition car features green and red stripes on its sides and many an interlinked G symbol. Beautiful models not included.

The Gucci wheels - for the girl who has everything - will feature the company's signature green and red stripe on its side, with a soft top version sporting the stripe down the middle of its roof.

Alloy wheels are emblazoned with the famous Gucci interlocking G symbol, and, according to Automobile magazine, steering wheels will be hand-stitched in two-tone ivory and white.

Trademark Gucci lettering leaves passers-by in no doubt of the fashion-mobile's illustrious provenance.

The body, the car: Elle Macpherson was one of the first to take delivery of the 500c in London. It was voted the sexiest car in Britain in 2008

And, where more fitting for the U.S. launch of the limited edition than at global fashion showcase, New York Fashion Week?

Granted, there are no tiny, winding streets in New York, and awkward parking spots aren't quite so commonplace as they are in Rome, Florence or Pisa.

But the 500 is having its moment in the sun - it has come a long way since its birth as an economy car in the 1950s - and owning the keys to the retro design might just be as stylish as carrying an Hermes Birkin.

Prices for the Gucci versions aren't yet known, but the standard 500s start at around $15,500 in the U.S.

That's the same as three Gucci hand-painted woven leather totes, or just half of the cost of a Victoria Beckham large hand luggage bag.

Not bad for a style accessory that was voted sexiest car in Britain in 2008 - and it can carry more than lipstick and a phone.

Since launching in 2007, the Fiat 500 brand has been enjoying something of a renaissance, the updated diminutive design drawing celebrity fans.

Elle MacPherson, who was one of the first to take delivery of her new soft top version said: 'I love the Fiat 500c, it has that sexy, cool, Italian thing going on.'

Elsewhere, an original version of the tiny car features in a recent Missoni for target ad, its shapely blue form next to an equally shapely Margherita Missoni.

It's not the first time the car has been given a personality change.

Cementing its place in pop culture, the car had a Barbie makeover in 2009, which saw a set of bubblegum pink lip-glosses - complete with application mirror - integrated into the fittingly girly design.