Demna grabs his 2,000€ plastic bags and heads to Gucci
Today was meant for Donatella VERSACE 💜
Divas, WTF is going on?!?
We’d hoped to sit and sip the occasional brew while recovering from the avalanche of fashion month content. With maximalism in full force, debuts at Dries Van Noten, Tom Ford and Givenchy had us gagged—but the fashion gods giveth and taketh away.
On a day meant to celebrate one of the most iconic designers stepping down after 28 years at Versace, Donatella departs, leaving her with time to do… well, anything but weekly surgeon visits (we hope). Just look how she ate back in the day.
But we digress—tea isn’t strong enough for this one. Demna, fresh off delivering an eye-rollingly repetitive Balenciaga show (some good ideas, sure, before veering into his usual dystopia where everyone looks meth-fulled and ready to riot), is heading to Gucci as of July 2025. And word on the streets is, he’s cleaning up his act.
We’re skeptical.
Sure, his Balenciaga era had its moments—the vile Triple S trainers and the Hacker Project collab with Gucci in 2021—but it also gave us:
❌ Nightmarish streetwear that looked salvaged from the apocalypse.
❌ Meme-bait accessories engineered for internet chaos (see: $1,790 trash bag).
❌ Stunts teetering between genius and gimmick—the Simpsons runway crossover, Kim Kardashian literally duct-taped into an outfit.
Iconic? Some may say. But let’s be real—also completely unhinged.
Kholi: If he can channel the magic of his first Balenciaga collection, we might actually have something worth toasting. That red puffer, slouched off the shoulders like it was thrown on mid-stride—structured, asymmetrical, and paired with a jewel-encrusted turtleneck and slick-back pumps? A game-changer.
Verity: Demna’s couture? Iconic. His ready-to-wear? That’s just taking the p*ss. Chaos with no substance. A whole 35 days have passed since Sabato’s exit, and I can’t imagine Gucci fans will be impressed by this news either. Also, what’s Demna’s cult following gonna do now? This is a huge risk—Kering must be desperate.
Gucci’s been struggling—facing a 24% revenue drop in late 2024 and Sabato De Sarno’s blink-and-you-missed-it tenure made that clear. After Alessandro Michele’s departure, the brand has been flip-flopping on its identity, unable to find its footing. But doubling down on Demna’s brand of irony and chaos feels like a gamble. Gucci’s magic has always been about opulence, romance and that offbeat glamour—turning the runway into a performance art piece only when Michele was at the helm. Demna’s whole ‘anti-fashion’ schtick, with its overt disruptions and in-your-face commentary, could be a jarring clash with Gucci’s heritage. But perhaps that’s the point? They’re grasping for sales.
So, what now? Demna’s wrapping up his time at Balenciaga with a final couture show on July 6, and then he’s off to Gucci. (Whether this is a stroke of genius or the start of something disastrous remains to be seen—but one thing’s for sure: the tea is about to get scalding.) Now, all eyes are on Balenciaga to see just who steps in next.
Loved your commentary. My main comment on this is also - WHAT ABOUT A FEMALE CREATIVE DIRECTOR
This whole reshuffle is giving me such a headache lol. I think it shows the industry’s preference for short-term gains vs. long-term creative vision. If we look at the creative directors that have been appointed lately, diversity also seems to be an issue. I wrote about this as well, would love to hear some thoughts https://open.substack.com/pub/whyyoushouldcare/p/creative-director-shuffle?r=laov1&utm_medium=ios