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Takeaways from Demna’s first Gucci show
On February 27th, 2026, Milan Fashion Week held its breath. At 2pm, Demna presented his first show for Gucci. Appointed artistic director of the Italian house a year ago, did the Georgian designer succeed in saving it?
By Léa Zetlaoui.
All-in on Demna at Gucci
February 27th, 2026, 2pm. Demna sealed the fate of the Italian house with his first show for Gucci. Everyone is aware of the difficulties the brand owned by Kering has faced since 2022, following the departure of its former artistic director, Alessandro Michele.
Is Italian audacity making a comeback?
Before the Georgian designer left Balenciaga to join Gucci in March 2025, the artistic direction of the house had been entrusted to Sabato De Sarno, who previously worked at Valentino. Tasked with opening a new chapter, he sought to soften the flamboyant legacy of his predecessor and impose a more minimalist vision. A delicate transition that failed to stop the slowdown.
Besides, is sobriety really what one expects from Gucci? Nothing could be less certain. Founded in 1921, the Italian house built its myth on exuberance, audacity, and unapologetic theatricality. From Tom Ford’s glamorous opulence to the baroque aesthetic infused by Alessandro Michele, Gucci has never thrived on restraint. And the good news is that it has never been the case for Demna as well.
New vision, new style
First spotted with his disruptive label Vetements, Demna arrived at Balenciaga in 2015. He quickly revitalized the heritage of the house founded in 1937. Under his tenure, revenue soared, reaching €1.18 billion in 2021. It is therefore easy to understand why Kering called on its Georgian benefactor to take good care of its Italian jewel. Even if his irreverence has not always pleased everyone, the designer has proven his ability to gather a broad community, devoted to his radical vision of fashion and ironic take on luxury.
While last season marked the debut of around ten new creative directors, all eyes are on the new Gucci/Demna duo this Fashion Week. “Tomorrow is the birthday of my vision for Gucci. A house that has lived many lives. A brand that has defined and redefined what luxury means and what fashion dares to become,” Demna wrote in an Instagram post. After spending ten years at Balenciaga, one can sense the excitement surrounding this new creative and strategic chapter.
A glimpse of Demna’s work with La Famiglia
Demna rose to the challenge with skill and delivered a first collection last September 2025. Unveiled as a film directed by Spike Jonze and a lookbook conceived as a family portrait, La Famiglia collection revisited the heritage handed down by his predecessors. A series of silhouettes poised between homage and contemporary reinterpretation. “Last year, I immersed myself in understanding the gucciness of Gucci. I shared fragments of this research through La Famiglia and Generation Gucci collections. I went to the archives in Florence, visited the Gucci factories, and witnessed the industrial power of this brand.”
Takeaways from Demna’s first Gucci show?
Italian art and museum-like atmosphere
At around 2pm in Milan, guests gathered at the Palazzo Delle Scintille, a monumental exhibition space adorned for the occasion with immaculate marble sculptures. Demi Moore, the face of the Gucci campaign film, took her seat in the front row, alongside Romeo Beckham, Shawn Mendes, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, Nadia Lee Cohen, Paris Hilton, as well as Donatella Versace and Alessandro Michele.
As a master of evocative staging, Demna set the tone by choosing sobriety on his runway. The minimalist scenography invited the audience to focus on the clothes, and above all, on the emotion they conveyed. Within this museum-like setting, the soundtrack composed by Ioki (formerly BFRND) evolved in tandem with Gucci’s new wardrobe.
A new spring at Gucci
Entitled Privamera (Spring in Italian), this first collection opens a new chapter, a rebirth. The designer is not looking back at Michele’s baroque era, but revamping Tom Ford’s sophisticated glamour and making it more contemporary.
The unconventional model castings once used at Balenciaga were not on the agenda this season. This time, Demna gatheres an A-list of past and present models, including Emily Ratajkowski, Amelia Gray, Karlie Kloss, and Mariacarla Boscono. The show reached its climax with the finale. Kate Moss appeared in the iconic thong dress launched by Tom Ford… A full circle moment.
Femme fatales and himbos
Built on more than a hundred years of history, Gucci’s legacy is undeniably vast, yet it remains faithful to a certain vision of fashion. Drawing from Italian culture, its identity is rooted in two distinct archetypes – the femme fatale and the himbo, a portmanteau blending “him” and “bimbo”. The same figures that Tom Ford celebrated with his porno-chic aesthetic at the dawn of the 2000s.
The white mini dress that opened the show strongly evoked Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct, while the men wore tight tops and trousers that revealed their anatomy more than they concealed it. “I don’t want it to be intellectual. I want Gucci to be a feeling,” Demna stated. The message could not be clearer: Gucci is sexy again.
What we will remember from Demna’s debut Fall/Winter 2026-2027 show is that it lays the groundwork for a new language, both for the brand and its creative director. Although the proposal is undoubtedly strong and bold, one may nonetheless miss Demna’s signature layers of interpretation. To be continued…
All the looks from the Gucci Fall/Winter 2026-2027 show
