What makes Demna not such an obvious choice for Gucci is how he’s always led with his iconoclasm, first at Vetements, the independent brand he founded with his brother Guram Gvasalia, and then at Balenciaga, where, to paraphrase what he said backstage this season, he’s been putting chairs on heads and calling it wearable art. Then, of course, there are his powerfully thought-provoking runway shows: on climate change, on the cacophony of social media, on the threat of war.
Gucci rose to the top three of the most viewed shows of the fall 2025 season on Vogue Runway (more on exactly where it netted out tomorrow, when we reveal our top 10 list), and it did so without any creative director at all, which demonstrates the prodigiousness of its audience. But its revenue has fallen precipitously since 2022, the year that Alessandro Michele made his exit. Demna’s directive will be to get the numbers flowing in the opposite direction. That turnaround imperative is why so many people figured Hedi Slimane had the job in the bag: He has a track record at Saint Laurent and Celine (which looked not unlike a French version of Gucci when he left). His current free agent status made Slimane seem like a strong contender.
The surprise of Demna’s appointment seems to say that Gucci CEO Stefano Cantino and Kering Deputy CEO in charge of Brand Development Francesca Bellettini are betting on creative risk, on big ideas, on statement making shows, and not only on bankable clothes and accessories. That represents a turnaround from the thinking of the former executives at Gucci, who endorsed a more classic, “no-season” approach when they hired De Sarno.
