Surprise, surprise! Fashion woke up bright and early in the midst of London Fashion Week with some unexpected Italian news. Demna dropped his Gucci debut with no tease, no preparation, no warning. After the announcement that the equally loved and controversial designer would step into the legendary Italian brand, the industry was aflutter. How could a designer with such a distinctive style honour a legacy as extensive as Gucci’s?
The answer Demna came up with is brilliant. Gucci’s visual story is complex. Its creative directors haven’t been concerned with legacy in the same way Demna is. Alessandro Michele’s dramatic maximalism is in direct opposition to Tom Ford’s minimalistic sensuality. And so, tasked with synthesising its past and future, the Georgia-born designer decided to split it into 37 equal facets.
Basing himself on Italian caricatures, Demna created a lexicon of Gucci’s genealogy. The first of it being a classic Gucci trunk, harkening back to the brand’s beginnings as a leather goods company. Titled La Famiglia, the lookbook shows characters like Incazzata, an annoyed, bratty woman wearing a tailored red coat with oversized GGs for buttons. Speaking of, the iconic belt is back with Narcisista, a self-centred man with an excessively open shirt and aviator glasses. Sciura, the name given to chic older women, finds its embodiment in a sculptural powder-blue coat topped with a massive fur collar.
It’s not necessarily a new strategy for Demna. It’s a way of designing he’s naturally inclined to – we’ve seen it both at Vetements and Balenciaga. Still, somehow, here it feels fresh. Perhaps because, for the first time, it serves a purpose greater than a collection’s narrative. It refracts the possibility that the new Gucci has. It’s sexy, fun, quirky, glamorous all at once: no compromises. If in the past few years, we’ve seen the designer’s darker side – using his language to comment on global warming or to parody consumer culture – here he seems unconcerned. A voluminous tiger-patterned fur coat is used as a minidress on Alex Consani. A horsebit pair of flare jeans is so low-waisted, a model’s pubis is within reach.
Lightness was the correct choice. After a creatively indecisive period, the critical and commercial pressure was at an all-time high, leaving close to no breathing room. Spring/Summer 2026 is a definitive step in the right direction. The collection is set to come into stores in the coming weeks, marking the first time a debut has been this immediate. The early bird gets the worm, and thankfully, we’re all getting it.
Words by Pedro Vasconcelos
