February 28, 2026 |
Gucci in all its libidinous glory roared back with Demna’s much anticipated debut show. Ready or not, the designer unleashed a sexy, unfettered thong-flashing muse onto fashion. Be warned: the Gucci boy (shrink-wrapped into a muscle tee and ass-hugging jeans) and the Gucci girl (her Pilates body is made for mini dresses) will eat you alive.
In a statement released before the show, Demna explained his belief that “Gucci is a feeling” – not an intellectual concept – and that his job is to drill deep into the “Gucciness of Gucci.”
In a monumental arena lined with enormous replica statues 3D-scanned from antiquities in the Uffizi Gallery, Demna’s new vision unfolded. The huge crowds massed outside the venue are a testament to the wide cultural reach of this brand and its creative director.
Demna’s debut runway show was marinated in references to Tom Ford. He wasn’t there to see it although Donatella Versace (dressed in a fetching red coat with golden GG buttons) and former Gucci designer Alessandro Michele were, alongside Demi Moore and her chihuahua, Timothée Chalamet in a balaclava and Noughties icon Paris Hilton.
Her “That’s Hot” catchphrase must have been ringing in the designer’s ears because Demna’s Gucci came out far saltier than Ford’s. The slick sexuality of the Ford era has evolved into thirst trap dressing of the highest order. Demna brought sexy back for a new generation.
Spray-on body con mini dresses, skin-tight, leggings with hip cut-outs, tightly tailored pencil-skirt suits and the kind of boot cut trousers suits that Ford made ubiquitous in the ‘90s all came with a side order of F.U. attitude. From the beefy gym boys waddling down the runway like they’d over done it on leg day, to the hip swinging glossy lipped Gucci sirens, who could be heading to the club or on a morning after walk of shame, Demna’s models ate up the runway. The women with hands on hips, archly showing off handbags in the crook of their elbows, the hunky boys strutting in crock leather zip-up jackets or shrunken suits worn low on the hips to reveal their GG underwear. There was a shiny club crew, in brassy metallic jeans and snakeskin sequin muscle tees, bumbags slung casually across their chests, and gym bros in sloppy shorts, wearing T-shirts half on half off to show off their cut torsos. The girls sassed it up in alligator drainpipes and shrunken bombers trimmed with lashings of plush shearling or drainpipe leather jeans and an oversized coat. Horse-bit spike heels worked hard, day and night.
Elon Musk’s trans daughter Vivian Wilson and rapper Fakemink walked alongside runway cameos from Karlie Kloss and Emily Ratajkowski but this was less of a catwalk and more of a meme-walk, as each model keyed into their irrepressible, shameless, hedonistic Gucci characters.
For evening, boys in stretchy sequin co-ords brought to mind Quad God ice dancer Ilia Malinin who tore up the rink at the recent Winter Olympics. For the women, long, sinuous, slinky sequin gowns recalled the glamour and glory of the Ford era. A star from that era, Kate Moss closed the show and gave everyone the most meme-able moment of all, flashing her GG thong in a bottom cheek revealing backless, sequin gown.
“Gucci is drama, passion, excess. contradiction, love and hate, triumph and collapse. Pride and vulnerability, perseverance. Chaos. Genius.” So said Demna in the emphatic statement he released on the eve of his debut.
He said he thought of the brand as a person, “Someone with a wild, unforgettable past and unmistakable codes. Someone fully aware of who they are, yet restless, curious. Hungry to evolve, to surprise, to be surprised, to challenge and to be challenged, to be respected, to be desired.” It’s his job to ignite excitement and desire. Job done.
Photography courtesy of Gucci.
