What makes Demna not such an apparent selection for Gucci is how he’s at all times led along with his iconoclasm, first at Vetements, the impartial model he based along with his brother Guram Gvasalia, after which at Balenciaga, the place, to paraphrase what he stated backstage this season, he’s been placing chairs on heads and calling it wearable artwork. Then, in fact, there are his powerfully thought-provoking runway exhibits: on local weather change, on the cacophony of social media, on the specter of warfare.
Gucci rose to the highest three of probably the most considered exhibits of the autumn 2025 season on Vogue Runway (extra on precisely the place it netted out tomorrow, after we reveal our prime 10 checklist), and it did so with none inventive director in any respect, which demonstrates the prodigiousness of its viewers. However its revenue has fallen precipitously since 2022, the yr that Alessandro Michele made his exit. Demna’s directive will likely be to get the numbers flowing in the wrong way. That turnaround crucial is why so many individuals figured Hedi Slimane had the job within the bag: He has a monitor file at Saint Laurent and Celine (which appeared not not like a French model of Gucci when he left). His present free agent standing made Slimane seem to be a powerful contender.
The shock of Demna’s appointment appears to say that Gucci CEO Stefano Cantino and Kering Deputy CEO answerable for Model Growth Francesca Bellettini are betting on inventive threat, on huge concepts, on assertion making exhibits, and never solely on bankable garments and equipment. That represents a turnaround from the pondering of the previous executives at Gucci, who endorsed a extra traditional, “no-season” method after they employed De Sarno.
