Behold, Paul Mescal in short shorts. At the Triennale Milano, an art and design museum in Milan, Mescal joined the likes of Serena and Venus Williams at Gucci’s SS25 Men’s show. Inspecting what Gucci’s creative director Sabato De Sarno calls “incontri,” they saw a collection that relished in the freedom, energy and community in encounters. Both aesthetically and thematically, the Gucci menswear collection wanders the liminal space between two entities, attempting to capture points of connection.

The sprightly and dynamic collection invites a zestful, coastal energy that summer, sun and De Sarno invoke. Boxy embossed leather jackets collide with spirited colors to create a sorbet of green and yellow. Meanwhile, beaded fringe bowling shirts are detailed with hibiscus flowers, dolphins, surfers and banana leaves. Alongside chunky sunglasses, bamboo-like jewelry, burgundy leather shorts and long constructed coats, the clothes speak to the delicate yet structured beauty of intersections. Precise tailoring represents the attention thrown into bridging the distance, with sleek lines greeting one another like friends for coffee.

Playing with archival luggage, Gucci also touts a functional bucket bag slivered from gaberdine canvas twill, eager for compartmentalizing a slew of summertime accessories. Pouncing on the sentimentality of freedom and open space, Gucci’s latest collection points towards “incontri” in every sense of the word—whether that’s where the ocean meets the shore, where people meet other people, where clothes meet the wearer or, inevitably, where the inseam meets Mescal’s thighs.