MILAN
Fashion shows usually ask you to imagine the clothes somewhere else: on a street, at a party, in a life you might one day have. On Friday afternoon in Milan, Demna skipped the imagining. For his second runway collection as creative director of Gucci, he built a Gucci store, complete with marble, velvet banquettes, high-pile carpet, display cases of jewellery and racks of real handbags, and sent his models through it as if they were shopping.
The front row sat on the shop's cushioned sofas. Cardi B, wrapped in white faux fur, sat near Donatella Versace, who wore a stole from Demna's first Gucci collection. Tennis star and brand ambassador Jannik Sinner took a seat next to Vogue's Anna Wintour. The message, as the Associated Press put it, was unusually explicit: these were clothes meant to move from rack to wardrobe.
The Store as the Show
The set, built inside Milan's Allianz MiCo convention centre, was more than theatre. According to Wallpaper*, it was designed as a preview of Demna's new retail concept for the house, which debuts in late October with a renovated flagship on Paris's Avenue Montaigne before rolling out to stores worldwide. Nods to antiquity, including stone frescoes, classical statues and urns, echoed the Uffizi-inspired 'museum' that framed his February debut.
Demna told Wallpaper* he wanted the store to feel monumental, a return to the era when a Gucci boutique was a temple of desire. The magazine recalled that in the late 1970s, big spenders at Gucci's New York and Los Angeles stores were handed a golden key to the private Gucci Galleria.
In a letter to guests, the designer summed up a year of research into the brand. Gucci, he wrote, stands for the desire to belong to a more glamorous world and the audacity to remake that world in your own image.
Broken Bourgeoisie
His debut in February introduced 'La Famiglia', a cast of sharply drawn Italian characters with names like La Bomba, La Diva and L'Influencer. This time the archetypes loosened. Wallpaper* reported characters including 'The Rebellious Aristocrat', 'The Snob' and 'The Eccentric', but the AP noted that the collection invites customers to borrow elements rather than become captive to a single persona.
The silhouette arrived first. Men's suits carried exaggeratedly broad shoulders; women's jackets and dresses had upturned pagoda shoulders; collars were flipped up for attitude. Cropped trousers and elongated loafers worn without socks gave the men a louche Italian ease, while a cinched trench over a blouse and skirt spoke to the polished Milanese woman.
Then came the disruptions. Low-slung trousers held up by three belts nodded to the swagger of Milan's street youth. A prim tartan skirt was undercut by a leather bomber, a plaid shirt and an oversized necklace. The horsebit, Gucci's equestrian emblem, appeared everywhere, tiny on a shirt collar, supersized as a fastening at the back of a jacket or slung around the waist.
The finale switched to full Dolce Vita glamour: lace, fur-like textures and body-conscious, dramatically cut eveningwear on Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Anok Yai and Alex Consani. Backstage, Demna described the mood as 'broken bourgeoisie' and told Wallpaper* it felt like his first real show for the house, calling it 'quintessentially Gucci'.
Why the Stakes Are So High
Behind the spectacle sits a hard business reality. Gucci is the biggest brand and main profit engine of its parent company, Kering, and it has been shrinking. In the first half of 2026, Gucci's revenue fell to about 2.76 billion euros, down 9 percent on a reported basis and 5 percent on a comparable basis, according to Kering's results as reported by the trade press.
There are signs of improvement. Kering returned to growth in the second quarter, its first comparable sales increase in three years, and reports noted that Demna's first designs had begun to resonate, especially with American shoppers. Chief executive Luca de Meo's turnaround plan leans on restoring full-price desirability, cutting reliance on outlets and wholesale, and closing around 250 stores over four years to boost sales per shop. A runway staged as a luxury boutique fits that strategy exactly.
The collection's most commercial looks made the case: a double-breasted navy peacoat worn with high-heeled riding boots finished with spurs, and a Gucci-striped rugby shirt layered under an Oxford shirt and a logo jacket.
Demna's own history adds to the pressure. He arrived at Gucci from Balenciaga, where a decade of hits, from oversized hoodies to chunky sneakers, made him one of the most influential designers of his generation. Gucci hired him to deliver that kind of cultural heat to a house that had cooled after the Alessandro Michele era and a short-lived successor. The AP observed that references to Michele's eccentricity and Tom Ford's sexualised 1990s silhouettes were less stark this time than in the debut, suggesting a designer settling into the brand rather than quoting it. A second collection is where critics judge whether a new direction has substance, and on Friday early reviews, from Wallpaper* to Marie Claire, which called it a masterclass in dressing the Italian donna, largely treated it as a clearer statement of intent.
What This Means for You
For shoppers, the takeaways are wearable. Expect strong shoulders, both pagoda and broad, to shape tailoring next spring. Equestrian references, from riding boots to horsebit hardware, look set to be everywhere. And layering a preppy piece like a polo, a tie or a sweater slung over the shoulders against something with an edge is the easiest way to borrow the mood without buying the label.
For anyone watching the luxury industry, the show signals a shift. After years of runways designed mainly as viral images, brands under pressure are foregrounding the product itself and the experience of buying it. The Paris store opening next month will show whether Demna's temple of desire can turn curiosity into sales.
The Verdict
Demna made his name at Balenciaga by questioning fashion's relationship with luxury. At Gucci, he appears to be embracing it, on his own terms. Friday's show was part sales pitch, part social comedy about wanting and belonging, and wholly self-aware. In a season full of debuts and resets, Gucci did not ask its audience to dream. It invited them to come in and browse.
