Creative director Demna presents first Gucci show as Kering pushes turnaround

Demna’s debut collection for Gucci blends heritage with modern flair, as Kering looks to revive the iconic brand following a sales slump.

Elisa Anzolin/Reuters

28 February 2026 at 03:33:22

Gucci's Artistic Director Demna Gvasalia appears at the catwalk show for Gucci's Fall/Winter 2026/2027 collection during Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, February 27, 2026.

Daniele Mascolo/Reuters

Gucci's new creative director Demna presented a collection of legging-pants, seamless mini dresses and shimmering gowns in his first fashion show for the Italian label, as French owner Kering PRTP.PA bets on a creative reset to revive its flagship brand.

The models walked through a space surrounded by large marble-clad steps, at the top of which were replicas of classical statues, in a nod to the Uffizi Museum in Florence, where Guccio Gucci founded the brand in 1921.

Demna's range of different looks and stylistic propositions sought to appeal to a wide variety of people, he said in the press notes.

DEMNA BECAME CREATIVE DIRECTOR IN JULY

The Georgian designer, who spent a decade at Kering's Balenciaga brand, took over as Gucci's creative director in July last year, after a two-year tenure by Sabato De Sarno.

"In general I intend for Gucci to become lighter, softer, more refined, more elaborate, more emotional, even senseless sometimes. I don't want it to be intellectual," Demna, 44, wrote in a letter published in some newspapers on Friday and released on Instagram on Thursday.

At the September Milan fashion week Demna unveiled his first collection for the brand in a lookbook on Instagram and screening a short film in which actors wore the outfits.

The new collection is called "Gucci Primavera".

"My vision of Gucci is about the coexistence of heritage and fashion. Here they are not opposites, they are lovers," Demna said in the letter. "This first Gucci show introduces a universe of people, archetypes, consumers and dress codes that will shape my design language moving forward," he added.

A selection of items from the new collection would be available for sale on Friday in some shops and online, ahead of the official launch from July 2026.

"It was important to give a sign of speed and dynamism," new Kering CEO De Meo told journalists on the sidelines of the show.

De Meo was appointed last September to lead a turnaround at the group and particularly at its flagship label Gucci, whose sales fell 22% in 2025.

He said he believed the brand was moving "in the right direction".

-Reporting by Elisa Anzolin; Editing by Valentina Za, Tomasz Janowski and Barbara Lewis/Reuters