On Tuesday, Gucci staged its Cruise 2024 fashion show in Seoul—at no less spectacular a venue than the six-century-old Gyeongbokgung Palace—to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Italian house’s first store in the South Korean capital. It also marks Gucci’s third runway show since Alessandro Michele’s departure in November—and another transitional season for the label to navigate until newly appointed creative director Sabato De Sarno debuts his first collection, for spring 2024, in September. Here are the five biggest takeaways from a star-studded night of blockbuster fashion.

1. ​​The Dream of the ’90s Is Alive in Seoul

The show notes promised “silhouettes evocative of Gucci in the late 1990s”—and boy, did the design team ever deliver. There were bomber jackets of every imaginable form: cropped, stretched to ankle length, puffed up in shimmering metallics, toned down in matte blacks. There were baggy ripped jeans, sophisticated spins on overalls, dangly wallet chains, puffy vests, and strong-shouldered tailoring. It was, without question, the house’s most dramatic break from the preppy-twee of the Michele era yet: Squint, and you could’ve easily mistaken the models for club kids at Berghain or cast members in Kids.

2. The X Games Go High Fashion—Again

Fashion’s ongoing obsession with skate and surf culture has deepened (and grown ever-more literal) in recent years. JW Anderson knit a skateboard into a sweater; Dior teamed with surfwear experts Vissla on a wetsuit; Hermès built a carryall on a skate deck. Now, Gucci has entered the action sport arena: The house sent several neoprene wetsuits down the runway—some more subtly cropped into shirts and layered under slinky dresses; others full-length with zipped-up hoods—alongside a handful of real-deal, life-sized surfboards tucked under arms. There were techy, neon-tinged, wraparound shades scattered throughout. And, most notably, there was Gucci’s own sure-to-go-viral take on the skateboard bag: a full-sized deck complete with wheels, with a monogrammed Gucci handbag attached at the center.

3.  Water Shoes Make Another Splash

Speaking of outdoor sports and persistent trends: The most notable footwear to hit the runway on Tuesday was a clutch of grippy-soled neoprene water shoes and rubber wader boots. Gorpy, practical slip-ons have been a casual summertime smash among menswear dudes for a few years now—a nice, laidback alternative to your standby Birkenstocks when walking the dog or hitting the bodega. But Gucci seems to see its sleek versions—both an ankle-high “scuba boot” revived from the house’s archive and a low-cut, Velcro’d take debuted in Seoul—as way more versatile than that, pairing ’em with everything from shadow-plaid suits to boxy, urbane workwear. Based on this showing (and other recent examples, like Sandy Liang’s instantly-sold-out Salomon mocs), expect your feet to stay high and dry in fashion-forward water shoes for at least a few more seasons.

4. The Post-Rave, Pre-9-to-5 Transition Look

For all the Berghain club kids and Brink!-ready skater boys on the runway, our favorite guy was Look 27, whose swishy, grape-purple rave pants paired with a crisp red shirt, butterscotch-brown overcoat, and yellow-tinted shield shades suggested a new kind of Gucci grown-up. He is no stranger to the all-night dance circuit, but also has to get up bright and early the next morning to hop on the metro and make it into the office for his vaguely creative media job. Consider this a “business up top, party down below” uniform for the modern era.

5. Gucci Goes Hollywood: Seoul Edition

Gucci has asserted its megawatt star power over the last few seasons, and the Cruise 2024 show was no exception. Seated in the front row were Squid Game’s Lee Jung-jae and Hanni of the mega K-pop band NewJeans (both are Gucci brand ambassadors), plus DJ and producer Mark Ronson, and actress Dakota Johnson. A$AP Rocky, the “famously good-smelling rapper” and recent face of the brand’s Guilty fragrance, performed at the afterparty. There were even some familiar-faced fashion royalty on the runway, including models Karen Elson and Hanne Gaby Odiele—who, with her deep-side-parted hair, recalled Prada’s surf-heavy Spring 2010 runway she walked over a decade ago. “Surf’s up” is an everlasting state of mind.

Originally Appeared on GQ