Demna Gvasalia - Designer, Creative Director of Gucci

[Creative]

How much was Imran paid to write that article? His news website was always the first one to rip Kering off 😂 the irony!

Also, it seems like he really reeds TFS. Many of the insights he gave were written here way before…

 

[proseccotabis]

How much was Imran paid to write that article? His news website was always the first one to rip Kering off 😂 the irony!

Also, it seems like he really reeds TFS. Many of the insights he gave were written here way before…

EXACTLY! was saying the same thing too.

HI IMRAN! dont be shy join us here

 

[Blaiseybabey]

EXACTLY! was saying the same thing too.

HI IMRAN! dont be shy join us here

Come on, I don't believe that Demna or Imran haven't seen the posts here Or at least, somebody from their circles must have...
Maybe this is the only and actual platform to really express their dislike for the people/companies they work with #spies

 

[Alquimista]

If demna really reinvents his aesthetic, make his gucci but still gucci, them I'll eat my words. He would be the first one to break the one trick pony karma.

As much as I despise the cynical veener he puts on his clothes, I still think he is a good designer. I want to know what was the deal that he signed. The ceos are crazy but even they know demna can't bring his pack of zombies to gucci.

Demna 's designs can be highly silly but a lot of what we hate about his Balenciaga is related to packaging.

 

[proseccotabis]

Come on, I don't believe that Demna or Imran haven't seen the posts here Or at least, somebody from their circles must have...
Maybe this is the only and actual platform to really express their dislike for the people/companies they work with #spies

some of kering/lvmh/otb people read a lot of stuff here and it shows

 

[Blaiseybabey]

Are we the underground of the fashion industry? ooft, feels like the 90s (what do I know about it tho)

 

[Frederic01]

I predict he will do something "unique" and "different" for his first show (or two) but then the executives won't give him enough time for the products to resonate and start generating sales, so they will pressure him into doing the same merch that he was doing at Balenciaga in order to generate a immediate boost in sales, and then he will get stuck in the t-shirts and track suits pattern again within a year.

If Kering wants him to truly do something new and exciting, they need to give him space and time to do it. And I'm talking a few years. Not a few seasons.

Unfortunately though, they are on the decline and in a weak position in the market, so that will not happen. They are expecting a billion uptick in sales immediately so they can appease the shareholders. Add to that, the success of Balenciaga and Bottega in September (with new visions) is going to weigh heavily on everyone. Creativity will not be on their minds this year - it will be sales, profit margins, cost-cutting etc, etc. Don't expect anything revolutionary or interesting at Kering this year - they are simply not in the position.

It's a nightmare situation at Kering to be honest.

 

[jeanclaude]

Demna is obsessed with Margiela, to the point I think he believes he is Margiela.
What did he do at Vetements? Margiela. What has he done during all his tenure at Balenciaga? Margiela.

Expecting him to do something different is like believing in Santa Claus. He really does not care about designing at all. Remember when he said he was going to change his way, after the Balenciaga pedo scandal?? Did it happened?? NOPE!

Then there is the taste part. He has no taste for sophistication, luxury and glamour (which is part of Gucci´s DNA). How is he going to follow those codes, when he is totally unable to create something beautiful?? He lacks any sense of refinement. His brain is coded to only be interested in SKIDROW hobo looks; and so far he has shown he is unable to think outside that box he is in.

 

[yslforever]

What does it say when they
1) renew Demna at Balenciaga in November
2) boot Ancora in February, barely two months later,
3) and hire Demna at Gucci at the same time ?
Why the complications ? They could have fired Ancora and hired Demna as soon as November, if they were really that excited to bring Demna in Florence.
Does that mean that Demna was good enough for Balenciaga but not for Gucci last November ?
I don’t buy their reasoning, to me it reads that they couldn’t find an external hire and pressured Demna (and certainly Anthony too) to get the job at the last minute, and as the last resort.

 

[Creative]

What does it say when they
1) renew Demna at Balenciaga in November
2) boot Ancora in February, barely two months later,
3) and hire Demna at Gucci at the same time ?
Why the complications ? They could have fired Ancora and hired Demna as soon as November, if they were really that excited to bring Demna in Florence.
Does that mean that Demna was good enough for Balenciaga but not for Gucci last November ?
I don’t buy their reasoning, to me it reads that they couldn’t find an external hire and pressured Demna (and certainly Anthony too) to get the job at the last minute, and as the last resort.

1000000%

Makes no sense. I’m sure Hedi was negotiating and of course they could not reach an agreement.

Also, as Jeanclaude said, it’s very hard to imagine him doing something different. No designer has ever done something different (maybe just Phoebe Philo).

Galliano is Galliano, Raf is Raf, Theyskens is Theyskens, Nicolas is Nicolas, Tisci at Burberry was still him even if a very boring version of him…

You can’t do something you are not. It’s just impossible. If he does it will be just… forced. And forced things are always a catastrophe.

 

[Frederic01]

Gucci’s new designer needs to prove everyone wrong​

Demna’s provocative work for Balenciaga rubbed many the wrong way. But he could offer a struggling fashion house a jolt of the rude energy it needs.
March 15, 2025 at 8:30 a.m. EDT
Analysis by Rachel Tashjian

The roles at fashion houses change so often that hardly any new hirefeels shocking anymore. But “shock” is the only word that can describe the reaction to Gucci’s decision to appoint Demna — the provocateur who remixed the global wardrobe of sweatpants and T-shirts into luxury staples and made Ikea totes into $2,000 it-bags at Balenciaga — as its new head designer.

Comments on fashion publications’ Instagram posts announcing the appointment are burning with ire: “NO PLEASE!” “why god why” and “RIP GUCCI” were just a sampling of the thoughts on Vogue’s account. “Cryin in a brutal way” read a caption on a TikTok of Demna designs. “Everybody’s pissed that this guy is going to Gucci,” said one TikTok explainer.

The general dismay spilled far beyond the musings of the commentariat class. On Friday morning, shares of Kering, which owns Gucci and Balenciaga as well as Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta and McQueen, fell by 13 percent in Paris. The company was on track for its worst day in almost a year, Reuters reported, a surprise given that Kering has been in financial free-fall, with its sales declining 12 percent in the final quarter of 2024. Kering, of which Gucci comprises nearly half of sales, has been in such dire straits that it abruptly parted with previous creative director Sabato de Sarno in early February. De Sarno had been tasked with bringing Gucci into a world of quiet luxury following the wild and, at times, commercially resistant work of Alessandro Michele (now at Valentino), but his vision failed to gel for customers and critics.

Demna — born Demna Gvasalia in Soviet-era Georgia, but now known officially by his first name only — is certainly a departure. His designs have long been controversial and conversation-starting, including a collection of menacing “power suits” shown in a United Nations-esque room, a runway partially submerged in water that felt like a confrontation of fashion’s Titanic-like hubris, or a show staged in a violent snow globe shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that, depending on whom you asked, either empathized with or exploited the invaded country’s pain.

But following the scandal around a pair of unrelated photo shoots that seemed to make allusions to the sexualization of children, Balenciaga began to lose steam. (Balenciaga’s financial performance is not broken out in Kering’s reports but grouped with McQueen under the category of “Other Houses.” Sales of that division were down four percent in the fourth quarter of last year.) Lately, Demna’s shows have seemed frozen in a mode of cynical, even nihilistic commitment to sweatpants and unappealing suits. Do we really need or want our clothes to tell us that wealth and power are dumb and ugly?

The Gucci news was so rattling that it upstaged Thursday morning’s announcement of Donatella Versace’s retirement. The audaciouslyblonde designer succeeded her brother Gianni after his 1997 murder and emerged as one of the few household-name garmentos. She will become “chief brand ambassador” — a title usually reserved for celebrities contracted to wear a house’s clothes on the red carpet, although Versace was always her label’s best cheerleader.

Dario Vitale, a secret weapon behind the viral sensation (and Prada brand) Miu Miu, will now lead design. That marks an exciting change: Versace can sit front row as her fabulous self, while a creative with an eye for remixing vintage can breathe new life into a brand that invented fashion as popular culture by figuring out the right sensational celebrity (Madonna, J. Lo, Beyoncé) to wear the right sensational dress. This announcement comes just days after Jil Sander, the minimalist house which, like Gucci and Versace, hosts its runway shows in Milan, appointed Bally’s Simone Bellotti as its new creative lead. Milan Fashion Week will be a hot ticket come September.

But what to make of this Gucci surprise? Kering’s deputy chief executive, Francesca Bellettini, suggested in her statement that Demna’s pop cultural resonance made him the right choice:

“Demna’s profound understanding of contemporary culture, coupled with his extensive experience in conceiving visionary projects, has established him as one of the most influential and accomplished creatives of his generation,” she wrote. “His appointment as Artistic Director is the perfect catalyst to reignite Gucci’s creative energy.”

Still, Demna has got his work cut out for him. Even his supporters — who rightfully recognize him as the most innovative and influential designer of his generation — feel his work has become stuck or dated. In choosing Demna, Kering is, perhaps admirably, choosing risk and provocation. Hedi Slimane made it rain at Celine with his crisp bourgeois designs, and former deputy designers from Prada were frequently mentioned in gossip columns.
In these conservative times, that boldness is to be celebrated. But Demna will need to find a new language, and consider whether the world is ready for designs that many see as cynical or blindly commercial. He will need to prove everyone wrong — and that would be thrilling to watch.

THE WASHINGTON POST

 

[jeanclaude]

 

[Blaiseybabey]

Probably better if he does that in the Ancora red rather than the electric blue since Kering was so committed to that brand image ...

 

[NoInvite]

With every announcement, I always take the first official portrait as a sign and as a gesture.
Comparing the 2 when he was at Balenciaga and now Gucci. You can clearly see how the personality have changed and evolved. At Balenciaga you see the sense he's there to prove something he puts himself more in a serious traditional context meanwhile at Gucci I feel he's ready to troll us. The overexposed light, the stare.



Maybe I'm reading too much into this.
But when I saw the Cartier bracelet on Ancora's first official portrait, I knew it wouldn't last.

 

[blueorchid]

I don’t see it. He looks like a troll in both.

 

[youthinasia]

With every announcement, I always take the first official portrait as a sign and as a gesture.
Comparing the 2 when he was at Balenciaga and now Gucci. You can clearly see how the personality have changed and evolved. At Balenciaga you see the sense he's there to prove something he puts himself more in a serious traditional context meanwhile at Gucci I feel he's ready to troll us. The overexposed light, the stare.

View attachment 1364463View attachment 1364464

Maybe I'm reading too much into this.
But when I saw the Cartier bracelet on Ancora's first official portrait, I knew it wouldn't last.

I just can’t stand that pout

 

[Armani]

Sorry to comment on the Demna portrait again, but it’s so eerily reminiscent of a Drake selfie… with a Snow filter plastered on top, apparently.

Say O-V-Hoe!
champagnepapi on instagram

 

[youthinasia]

With every announcement, I always take the first official portrait as a sign and as a gesture.
Comparing the 2 when he was at Balenciaga and now Gucci. You can clearly see how the personality have changed and evolved. At Balenciaga you see the sense he's there to prove something he puts himself more in a serious traditional context meanwhile at Gucci I feel he's ready to troll us. The overexposed light, the stare.

View attachment 1364463View attachment 1364464

Maybe I'm reading too much into this.
But when I saw the Cartier bracelet on Ancora's first official portrait, I knew it wouldn't last.

Also, you can tell he told the suits: 'I want to disrupt this press release like I disrupted fashion. I don't want a professional headshot. Let me provide an image, I will send it over iMessage. Just give me a few minutes'

 

[TaylorBinque]

I think he can design accessories, or least is surrounded by capable people to do so. So probably that's why they feel like he can do well. But the problem I have with him is that he has nothing more to say. It's pretty much on the maximum. They will churn out "classic bags and boots and sneakers." But he will rely on the aesthetic rather than design of the collection as a whole.

On the other hand, unlike Balenciaga, Gucci is not a historic couture house. I hope Balenciaga is restored to compete with Dior. So he can do whatever he is please at Gucci. 😂

 

[HigthaVandah]

Dear BoF Community,

My initial reaction when I learnt that Demna would be appointed artistic director of Gucci was one of surprise. Although Demna’s name began to circulate as a potential candidate during Paris Fashion Week, I didn’t believe Kering would choose him to take on the challenge of restoring Gucci’s fashion credibility — and sales momentum — in a deeply troubled luxury market.

After gorging on fashion products during the pandemic, demand for luxury fashion is waning. Luxury customers are increasingly focusing their attention (and their wallets) on travel, dining and wellness. The only way to get them to pay attention to a fashion brand like Gucci is to offer something new and exciting, something that connects with the current moment and pushes fashion forward.

Is Demna the right person for the job?


Judging by the reaction from financial markets and fashion fans on social media, the answer is no. Kering shares plunged by 12 percent on Friday morning after digesting the announcement. Of the more than 9,000 people who replied to BoF’s Instagram poll linked to the breaking news on Thursday,
only 10 percent of you believe that Demna is the right pick for Gucci to reassert its fashion authority.
Sixty-seven percent of you think that Demna is not right,
and another 23 percent are not sure, preferring to “wait and see.”

But I have a different view. Once the news began to settle in, and I had time to process the comments made by Kering’s deputy CEO Francesca Bellettini and Gucci CEO Stefano Cantino as to why they, together with François-Henri Pinault, made this choice, their logic began to make sense to me.

Kering needed a heavyweight name and could not take another gamble on an unknown quantity.

There are very few designers with the creativity, technical skills and proven ability to not just capture but shape the fashion zeitgeist.

Jonathan Anderson is tied to LVMH through their investment in his own brand and seems certain at this stage to be headed to Dior, after his farewell Loewe presentation in Paris on Monday.

Matthieu Blazy, whose Bottega Veneta shows were a highlight at recent fashion months, left the Kering group last year (a huge loss) and is readying his vision for Chanel which will debut in October.

Hedi Slimane has a proven ability to transform and build brands (Dior Homme, Saint Laurent and Celine), but his days of shaping the zeitgeist are long behind him. Likewise, Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri, an unmistakably successful creator of luxury products, does not have the requisite fashion quotient.

If Gucci wanted a fashion designer with a capital F, then Demna is a pragmatic choice. After 10 years, the once disruptive fashion aesthetic Demna brought to Balenciaga has run its natural course. Balenciaga needs a change and Demna needs a new creative challenge, and by installing the designer at Gucci, Kering is also creating opportunities to address other issues in the group, while retaining a top talent.


That Demna is already part of Kering also means there are no pesky non-compete agreements to contend with, and he can already begin to develop his ideas for Gucci while he works on his final Balenciaga couture collection which will be shown in July.

But still, the success of this strategy rests on one critical question. Can Demna himself move his creativity forward?

If Demna simply takes his Vetements and Balenciaga look and implements that at Gucci, it will not work. Indeed, we already know what that looks like after “the hacker project” that brought Demna’s Balenciaga and Alessandro Michele’s Gucci together in a vibrant mash-up of their unique looks at the height of their creative powers at those brands back in 2021.

But there is nothing that fires up a designer like Demna like the opportunity to reinvent a historic house like Gucci. I first got to know Demna through his brother Guram when they came out from the background of the designer collective at Vetements as the driving forces behind the disruptive fashion start-up which BoF was first to write about back in 2014.

Demna has a strong foundation of creative fashion education from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, and professional training at Margiela and Louis Vuitton, where he worked alongside both Marc Jacobs, and then Nicolas Ghesquière, two top designers with very different approaches to design and creativity at the world’s largest luxury fashion house.

Over the years, I have also had the opportunity to get to know Demna as a human being. I interviewed him for a BoF cover story in 2015 just after he was announced as the new creative director at Balenciaga and sat down for a rare television interview with him just as the pandemic lockdowns were lifting and he was set to debut his incredible first Balenciaga couture show in July 2021.

What I can say without a doubt is this: Demna is one of the most provocative and thoughtful people working in fashion, and is someone who is deeply committed to his work. Like all of us, he has had his ups and downs, and the Balenciaga PR crisis was a reality check for him on a number of fronts.

More recently, he has been focusing on his own personal wellness and happiness, and I think he is now emotionally ready for one of the biggest jobs in fashion. If there is anyone in fashion who is up for this challenge, it’s Demna. Now we just have to wait and see if he can find it in himself to deliver the goods. I am really excited to see what he does.

We have a lot more coverage on all the news in fashion from the week gone by, including a special breaking news podcast episode with Tim Blanks digesting this week’s big news from Gucci and Versace, in addition to our always popular, must-listen seasonal episode reviewing the fashion season that was. There is also our take on the Top 10 Shows of the Season, a report on the state of the Pat McGrath Labs business and an in-depth case study on how to succeed in China’s new reality.

I hope you will find the time to listen, read and learn about this exciting time in fashion.

Imran Amed, Founder and Editor-in-Chief

LOLZ

This is eerily reminiscent of a due diligence statement or cover-your-*** letter.