A few moments in fashion are really crucial – one of them was at Gucci on Monday. The Florentine fashion house surprisingly deleted all the contributions on its social media channels and at the same time presented 37 looks for the new season. This made creative director Demna Gvasalia a brave debut: Instead of a traditional catwalk show, he presented the collection in a short film by the director: inside Spike Jonze and Halina Reijn.
The story of the film ‘The Tiger’ is about Barbara Gucci, played by Demi Moore. As Head of Gucci International and Chairman of California, she gathers her children and a special guest in the family house to celebrate her birthday. The film premiere became a starting signal for a new era under creative director Gvasalia.
A new restart
A determined restart was shown. Gvasalia built up on the foundations of Tom Ford and Alessandro Michele, but removed the ambiguities of previous identity crises. The La Famiglia collection, which will come to the shops from September 25th, should give new impulses to the luxury brand, which was in the hover for a long time. Based on Italian character clichés, La Famiglia presents itself as a clever, self -ironic fashion. This is a relief for the executives of the French luxury goods group Kering and Gucci boss Francesca Bellettini.
Gvasalia retains the essential codes of the house, but reinterprets it and does without the excessive subversive attitude that he cultivated in Balenciaga and Vetements. The looks, which are named after Italian stereotypes like ‘La Star’, ‘La Contessa’ and ‘Miss Aperitivo’, underline this narrative. In the film, Kendall Jenner wears a silver cocktail dress as ‘Miss Aperitivo’ and raves about how “it feels great on her body”. Demi Moore shines in a dress with a flora print and shows himself in a sharply cut red coat dress. Huge double g logos adorn buttons, earrings and shoes.
Creative intervention and commercial necessity
In the course of history, Barbara Gucci fights to hold everything together. She must keep the company’s reputation, impress a guest of honor and be a mother at the same time. While the evening takes an unexpected turn, its carefully built facade gets cracks – perhaps an echo of the fighting of the fashion house itself.
Gucci’s restart comes at a time when kering is in a special crisis. In the second quarter of 2025, the group reported sales of 3.7 billion euros, a decrease of 18 percent on a reported and 15 percent on a comparable basis. Gucci himself recorded a decline in sales from 25 percent to around 1.46 billion euros. In the first half of the year 2025, the turnover decreased by 26 percent and 25 percent on a comparable basis compared to the previous year and amounted to three billion euros. The new aesthetics is therefore not only a creative procedure, but also a commercial necessity.
By publishing the collection during the Milan fashion week, Gucci releases a momentum and at the same time circumvents traditional production cycles and designers: interior debt of the luxury industry. The capsule strategy not only demonstrates speed and rebranding, but also aims to generate immediate sales and marking dynamics – crucial at a time when both are under pressure. The teachings from the era of the previous creative director Sabato de Sarno were clearly drawn when it took “forever” for the collections shown on the catwalk to be available in the shops.
Avoidance of traditional production cycles of the luxury industry
Significantly, the new creative director does not try to wipe out what Gucci made great. The Horsebit detail, the Flora print and sex appeal are preserved. However, they are reinterpreted by a fresh, albeit ironic lens. The early presence of the capsule collection in the shops indicates that Gucci cannot afford to wait for the traditional period from the catwalk to retail. Since wholesale sales have dropped by around 50 percent in the last quarters, a further delay of product launches would be a risk. Instead, Gucci wants to shorten the time between catwalk and retail. The brand relies on the immediacy of the interest of consumers: rekindle inside and support the income.
The collection also appears in the course of internal changes. Francesca Bellettini was recently appointed managing director of Gucci. She reports on the new Kering, Luca de Meo. Your mandate is to sharpen the product coherence, reduce the costs and to connect to the consumer: to establish inside.
What are the risks?
After several seasons that were perceived as unless, Gucci’s style looked too eclectic and often incoherent – the brand has lost clarity. The new aesthetics must therefore not only attract attention, but also create desires and noticeably reflect in the buying behavior. At the same time, the recurring operational margin has dropped to around 16 percent – a decline of almost nine points compared to the previous year. A strict cost control is urgently needed, but is difficult. The slump in wholesale sales also makes Gucci more dependent on direct retail and new sales channels.
For the fashion industry, the debuts of La Famiglia and The Tiger could finally revitalize the discussion and announced it: lure it back into the shops. In a luxury environment in which tradition counts, but also surprise and agility are crucial, Gvasalia’s first season could rejuvenate the desirability of Gucci sustainably.
This article was used with digital tools translated.
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