The Tamesis
“For ten years I tried to impress, and I tried to impress myself. To show that I was a smart designer. At Gucci, I had a sudden surge of emotions. I realized that I could create in an emotional space – fashion that triggers emotions and feelings. Either you love it or you hate it,” Demna said backstage after her first Gucci show at Milan’s Palazzo Delle Scintille.
It has been almost a year since he was announced as Gucci creative director at a briefing hosted by current Gucci CEO Francesca Bellettini in Paris. “As long as you ignite the spark of creativity and artistic vision, this company will do well,” Berrettini, then deputy chief executive of Gucci parent company Kering, said of the company.
Since Alessandro Michele steps down at the end of 2022, Gucci really needs a spark. Over the past three years, mainly due to the industry-wide recession, the company’s sales have almost halved, falling from more than 10 billion euros in 2022 to around 6 billion euros in 2025. Gucci accounts for about 40% of group sales and is Kering’s largest brand, so the stakes are high.
Still, no one would say Demna doesn’t have a spark. Through his work at Balenciaga and previously at Vetements, the Georgian designer has defined the way we all dress for over a decade with his oversized silhouettes, streetwear experiments and “ugly” accessories.
Over the past six months or so, while exploring Gucci’s archives and history, the designer has given us a glimpse of his vision for the brand through La Famiglia and Generation Gucci—his spring and pre-fall collections, both presented through lookbooks (although La Famiglia is also known for his work on the Spike Jonze-directed film starring Demi Moore). “My Gucci aesthetic is very body-focused, whether it’s a boy or a girl,” he told Luke Leitch in December 2025.
Today, the designer has updated his code to be broadcast at the Palazzo Delle Scintille, where a museum-like set has been built especially for the occasion, including replicas of Roman sculptures currently in the Uffizi Gallery.
Kate Moss, Anok Yai and Alex Consani are just three of the many celebrities who walked the catwalk with fake cigarettes and real bags tucked into the crook of their elbows, just like Paris Hilton did in the 1990s, sitting next to her sister Nicky in the front row. At the same time, the bodies reminded this writer of a Bret Easton Ellis novel, as the men were comically muscular and the women had protruding hip bones.
