DEMNA’S DEBUT RUNWAY for Gucci has been a year in the making, and the anticipation was sizzling even before a single model stepped out. We’d already been teased with a Spring and Pre-Fall collections, but these were arguably wearable sketches that Demna was using to create the world he envisioned for the Italian brand. Tangible archetypes to create a visual language that would, one would assume, give us better insight into how his designs would take Gucci into its next phase.

On Saturday, with Gucci Primavera, we saw exactly how all these puzzle pieces fit together.

Let’s just acknowledge that this first runway was always going to be divisive. Demna’s no stranger to creating clothes that draw a line in the sand among critics and consumers. You’re either against it, or coming to the party. In this instance, it was a more literal experience. 

If I had to sum it up in one neat sentence, I will defer to a post on X from @thatadult: People who leave the house recognise the archetypes immediately.

These were clothes to party in. To hook up in. To walk home the morning after in. We’ve seen so many cerebral think pieces come down the runway that perhaps we’e forgotten what it feels like to look sexy in clothing? To borrow another quote, “Nobody’s fun anymore! Whatever happened to fun?”.

Lexi Featherston you would have loved Gucci Fall 2026.

Demna has previously spoken about pragmatism, and that principle runs through the collection. Helps to also remember that Demna has moved the brand into buy-now model, indicating that he’s less interested in predicting the cultural mood in 12 months but what people are wearing right now.

And right now, people want to look hot.

The models that opened the show could have caused Clavicular and ASU Frat Leader to have a cortisol spike. Gym-built physiques framemogging on the runway. There were club kids in smudged eyeliner, men in silver jeans and polo shirts that were skin tight. 

Compression muscle tees stretched tight across torsos. Skinny jeans rode low on the hip. Metallic leathers, python trousers and slick, fluid tailoring were cut close to the body. It was body-conscious in a way that left little room for interpretation.

There was a certain tawdriness in places. The low-cut trousers, bare skin and overt sex appeal may not sit comfortably with the Alessandro-era Gucci customer. But this is the mood in many cities right now, even if it rarely filters through the old-money nostalgia that some pundits are desperate to revive but is, at the end of the day, cosplay. Those days are gone.

Dotted between the flash were steadier propositions: sharply cut suits with a high sheen, softened loafers, reworked Bamboo bags and tailoring that retained a sense of Italian polish. Those moments of kept the spectacle of the show grounded.

Off the runway, the scale of guests that poured into the Palazzo delle Scintille were also a message. Front row was Donatella Versace, in Gucci (perhaps a new member of the Gucci Famiglia?), alongside Alessandro Michele who suddenly departed the brand in 2022. Cruz Beckham was a  reminder of the generational reset Demna is courting.

It will not please everyone. But Gucci’s revenues have fallen sharply in recent years, and runway shows ultimately exist to support a business. If the clothes are not selling, the theatre is redundant. Demna’s Gucci wants to be seen. More importantly, it wants to be bought.

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