Demna’s debut at Gucci opens Milan with Tutta in Famiglia

​And we’re off. The greatest ever season of designer debuts at major Continental fashion houses – with four alone in Milan – kicked off Tuesday evening in Milan with Demna at Gucci, albeit as a fashion tasting rather than a full-fledged debut.

Demna’s first inning for the house turned out to be a movie premiere, a fashion film entitled, “The Tiger”. Directed by Spike Jonze and starring Demi Moore, both of whom sat beside Demna at the screening. 
 
Pre-show, Demna had teased his first fashion ideas with a communications blast entitled: “Gucci: La Famiglia”, showing several score of looks in what amounted to a capsule collection. Seen in a striking series of striking portraits in models, shot by photographer Catherine Opie, whom Demna in a drink before the screening described as “The Rembrandt of our time.”

In a major surprise, the collection was a savvy reworking of Gucci classics, monograms and signature hits from Demna’s predecessors. From Tom Ford’s dark glamour to Alessandro Michele’s wacky romanticism, to Frida Giannini’s love of floral display – all leavened, especially for evening, with dashes of Balenciaga and Demna’s special skills in handling volume and silhouette.
 
“One thing I love about Gucci is that its history is not dominated by one designer. So many talented people have made great contributions. To me, it is not really a brand, more a cultural movement,” said a relaxed and ebullient Demna.
 
Staged inside La Borsa, the former stock market of Milan, the event began with models cruising around like movie stars taking extended bows on the black carpet outside the temple of finance. Scores of photographers and even more fashionistas filming them as they entered. Though the general public was kept blocks away by an intense ring of security. 
 

The collection definitely didn’t feel like a whole new chapter, but instead a savvy reworking of Gucci classics, monograms and signature hits from Demna’s predecessors. Still, the clothes looked more youthful and exciting, and blessed with a sense of humor. 
 
Demna’s debut comes at a delicate moment for the house, and for Kering, the French luxury conglomerate that also controls Yves Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Alexander McQueen and Balenciaga, where Demna was previously creative director for a decade.
 
Kering suffered a 14% decline in sales in first quarter 2025 to €3.88 billion, following a 12% drop in the final quarter of 2025. While Gucci, which makes up more than half of Kering’s turnover, saw sales nosedive by 24% in the first quarter of this year.

The Florentine-marque also dismissed its CEO Stefano Cantino last week, appointing Francesca Bellettini. A move that came after Kering appointed a new CEO earlier this month – Luca de Meo, its fourth in two years as the group’s stock price has steadily plummeted.
 
Clearly delighted by all the glamour, de Meo sat beside Kering chairman, and controlling shareholder Francois-Henri Pinault, bowing and beaming as the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Valeria Golino arrived.
 
The actual movie The Tiger was a fairly contrived and silly tale, where Moore plays Barbara Gucci, a fashion icon, whose family founded the brand in 1820. She now lives in a giant mansion in LA with a dysfunctional family. In an insider joke, they gather to see a preview of her latest collection – with a tiny speaking role for model Kendall Jenner. Before all getting wasted when one of them spikes the champagne with a drug named Conscious Bliss – eventually enraging a visiting Vanity Fair writer there to pen Moore’s portrait, played by a grumpy Ed Harris. Journalists are generally portrayed as cranky and cantankerous in Hollywood.

In most scenes, the cast wear Demna’s debut Gucci looks, albeit aided by famed costume designer Arianne Phillips. In both capsule and movie, Demna unveils a series of archetypes of “Gucciness”.
 
Opening the collection with L’Archetipo, a monogrammed travel trunk recalling the house’s origins as a valigeria. And the movie with Incazzata in a ’60s-style little red coat, that Moore wears in opening scene when her butler wakes her up.
 
Various characters such as La Mecenate, La Contessa, Sciura, and Primadonna all blend Italian elegance in grand evening dresses, while other figures evoke Ford’s tough glam of the ’90s.  The Georgian-born designer also played with the Flora motif in one particularly beautiful gown in which a model strolled about proudly in the piazza outside the stock exchange. 

“I actually grew up discovering fashion through Tom Ford. Watching Gucci shows on Fashion Television as a little boy growing up in Georgia,” Demna revealed.
 
“I thought La Famiglia would be a good way to return to Gucci’s storytelling, going back to the future by way of the past,” added Demna, who plans to live between Milan and Los Angeles. Working in both cities to prepare an actual full collection and his first true catwalk show for Gucci in February.