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Gucci is struggling. Gucci may be desperate. Today, the Italian house announced its appointment of Demna as its new Artistic Director. He will begin his tenure in July of this year, and present his first collection in September. Demna is Gucci’s first “celebrity” designer in the brand’s 100-plus-year history.
Following Alessandro Michele’s departure in 2022, Gucci failed to regain relevance with Sabato De Sarno. Despite his experience at Prada and Dolce&Gabbana, De Sarno could not live up to Michele’s success, and was fired after two years with the brand. Under De Sarno’s creative direction, Gucci saw an unprecedented 24% fall in revenue in 2024, the only double-digit decline in Kering’s entire portfolio. Granted, the brand also suffered corporate structural chaos, undergoing three different CEOs during De Sarno’s short tenure. This year, Gucci plans to shut 50 of its 1,800 store locations, a third of them being outlets, in order to more tightly control its retail distribution and brand image.
Contrary to his polarizing image, Demna has a history of saving brands. The Georgia-born, Antwerp-trained designer joined Maison Margiela in 2009 after Martin Margiela himself left the brand, overseeing its women’s collections. In 2013, he joined Louis Vuitton women’s as senior design director, and survived the change in leadership from Marc Jacobs to Nicolas Ghesquière. A year later in 2014, he co-founded Vetements with his brother Gurum Gvasalia, and a year after that, was appointed as Balenciaga’s creative director. Demna was stepping in to save Balenciaga from the flops of an inexperienced Alexander Wang. It was also the same year that Alessandro Michele joined Gucci.
Over the next few years, Michele and Demna would take wholly different paths. At Gucci, Michele epitomized flamboyance and romanticism, finessing refined tailoring and genderless dressing. At Balenciaga, Demna embraced dark satire with vandalism and dialed-up normcore, challenging the idea of luxury by tugging at opposite extremes of high and low. Gucci was beautiful. Balenciaga was ugly. Both were hugely successful; Michele stayed at Gucci for eight years, and Demna at Balenciaga for a decade.
Demna’s appointment to Gucci is, in a sense, a promotion. The Florentine house is Kering’s largest brand in terms of scale. But despite the industry’s continually revolving door of creative director swaps, the 44 year-old’s placement at Gucci comes as a total shock. He has made a career out of provoking and doing precisely the opposite of what Gucci is known for. Demna is often criticized for turning Balenciaga into a Vetements 2.0. According to WWD, in a press conference in Paris, Gucci CEO Stefano Cantino stated that “[Demna’s] intention is to do at Gucci something that is right for Gucci.”
The future of a Demna-less Balenciaga is also up in the air. There are rumors of Alaïa’s Pieter Mulier and Schiapparelli’s Daniel Roseberry in line to replace him. Whatever the case may be, we are eager to see what these brands and designers have in store.
Below, we compiled some things we hope to see from a new Gucci Demna, and some things we hope to not see.
One thing that remains constant in Demna’s designs are Eastern European influences. Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, and shaped by the post-Soviet world, he transforms these references into a new vision of luxury. With that, he took Balenciaga in a completely new direction, rebranding the French house’s design codes to be dystopian, futuristic, sexy, and gritty.
At Gucci, this could usher in a new era of raw sex appeal, one distinct from the Tom Ford era we often associate with the brand. Where Ford’s Gucci was slick, decadent, and hedonistic, we imagine Demna’s would be colder, more structured, and unapologetically futuristic. –Shinnie Park
At Balenciaga, it was very clear that Demna strived to make the everyman wardrobe into something coveted and luxurious. Some loved it. Some hated it. But it ultimately resulted in lots of success.
We don’t want Demna to totally abandon this approach at Gucci, but veering too far into the casual wardrobe rife with baggy sweats, heel-bitten denim, and boots with obnoxious platforms would just become Balenciaga 2.0. Instead, maybe start with fun plays on the Gucci tracksuit, or tap in back in with Dapper Dan for some bootleg-inspired leather jackets? That seems like a nice in-between to complement Gucci’s classic heritage. –Mike DeStefano
Gucci has a deep legacy in classic travel luggage. At Balenciaga, Demna revived Balenciaga’s most iconic City Bag, while also managing to create its own version of the Hermes Kelly, the Rodeo. We’re curious to see what Demna can do with Gucci’s storied accessories archive, arguably much deeper than that of Balenciaga. What will he do with the Jackie or the Diana? –YJ Lee
Demna’s reign at Gucci has the potential to be great, but we don’t need another round of gimmicky, parody fashion. The irony-laced, meme-baiting designs have been overdone at Balenciaga. We’ve seen the DHL tees, the knockoff-inspired logos, and the towel wrap skirt. At this point, the shock factor has worn off. What we want from Demna’s Gucci are designs that push Gucci forward and away from its predecessors; designs that blend his subversive instincts with the house’s heritage in a way that feels genuinely new. –Shinnie Park
Demna has a way of taking the familiar and warping it into something unexpected. His approach to footwear is rooted in subversion, pushing silhouettes to their extremes. Given his track record, we can’t help but wonder: What would a Demna-designed Gucci Horsebit loafer look like? The loafer is arguably the brand’s most recognizable piece, and previous artistic directors have introduced numerous successful adaptations, from fur-lined Princetown mules to lug-soled Horsebit loafers and intricately embroidered iterations. We are excited to see what Demna will cook up. –Shinnie Park
Balenciaga’s Triple S singlehandedly ushered in the era of super chunky luxury sneakers when it debuted in 2017. A variety of monstrous footwear would help define the brand for the next eight years. At this very moment, Balenciaga’s web store sells half a dozen silhouettes with varying degrees of chunk. They had their moment, but let’s leave them in the past.
We’re still intrigued to see Demna’s unique approach to Gucci’s casual footwear lineup. Maybe a reimagined version of the classic Tennis 1984 or an entirely new running model that can take the luxury market by storm like his Triple S did nearly a decade ago? It’s just that not everything needs to be pre-distressed, Shaq-sized, and sit atop soles that look like truck tires. –Mike DeStefano
Back in 2021, we got a glimpse as to what a new Gucci monogram may look like when Demna’s Balenciaga collaborated with Gucci for The Hacker Project. Double Gs were replaced with double Bs in Gucci’s logo font on various bags. Others got tagged with ironic messaging like “This Is Not a Gucci Bag.” There’s plenty of room for Demna to have some more fun with this idea.
Reinterpreting a house’s iconic prints was a big way that Pharrell ushered in his era at Louis Vuitton. And it worked. Just look at the success of the Damoflage print or his primary-colored Speedys. Demna’s appointment at Gucci indicates that it is looking for ways to reignite itself and excite a younger consumer. Remixing one of Gucci’s timeless motifs would be an easy way to do that in a very digestible way. It immediately gives customers something to look forward to. What will he do to the monogram next? –Mike DeStefano
Michele Yeoh? Fire. Nicole Kidman? Fire. Kim Kardashian? Personally? Fire. Under Demna, Balenciaga cherry-picked the most culturally relevant Hollywood stars as brand ambassadors. Cardi B and Ye also walked Balenciaga catwalks. But Demna didn’t always make the most sensible choices when it came to his models. Controversial reality TV star, Christine Quinn of Selling Sunset, walked down the brand’s 2022 Couture runway. Humor and irony is fine, but at Gucci, make it make sense. –YJ Lee
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