Gucci has entered new era with Demna. The former Balenciaga creative head took the helm of the struggling brand. The last few seasons have not been nice to the Italian luxury label known for its flashy style. As sales plummet parent company Kering needed a course correction, and fast. Gucci is the main profit driver for the conglomerate.
Channeling the heritage took the center stage at the Milan Fashion Week presentation. Instead of a full-blown fashion show of models strolling down the runway, 38 looks were paraded in the square in a mixture of celebs and professional cat walkers posing for pictures in front of guests. Experience has shown me, when a brand floods a show with stars, it is an ominous sign. The label wants media attention on the famous, not the clothes.
What did the Georgian born designer deliver? Throwbacks from Gucci’s past, a mixture of monogram patterns, the brand’s red and green details and black and trunks. The language is sexy and sell more sex defined this Spring 26 collection. Every silhouette could have come from a 90’s R rated film where the protagonists run from club to club, dance, kiss, then a dabble in a cross-gender relationship.
The September 23rd event was not about moving forward, nothing original but rather a signal of stability. The overall impression, Gucci is a brand without defined customers. Demna’s real job is to figure out who they are and what they want within a very narrow frame while appealing to everyone with an element here or an element there. Creatively, that is a tall order.
Demna’s first Gucci runway show happens in February 2026.