Gucci wipes the slate clean as Demna debuts La Famiglia

Few moments in fashion feel genuinely pivotal, but the winds of change swept through Gucci on Monday, when the Florentine fashion house erased its social media and presented 37 looks for the season. It was a bold debut by Demna, who, instead of staging a catwalk show, unveiled the collection within a short film by directors Spike Jonze and Halina Reijn on Tuesday.

The story of The Tiger follows Barbara Gucci, played by Demi Moore, as Head of Gucci International and Chairman of California, as she gathers her children and a special guest at the family home to celebrate her birthday. The film premiere became the launchpad for a new era under artistic director Demna.

A reset, again

What we saw was a determined reset, one built on the foundations of Tom Ford and Alessandro Michele but erasing the murkiness of any previous identity crisis. The collection, called La Famiglia, drops into stores on September 25th, and hopes to shift the dial for the long-in-limbo luxury brand. Based on a trope of Italian characters, La Famiglia is clever, self-aware fashion and, probably, a source of relief for Kering’s executives and Gucci’s incoming chief, Francesca Bellettini. Demna retains the house’s essential codes but reframes them, all without the overly subversive point of view he cultivated at Balenciaga and Vetements.

The looks, tongue-in-cheek christened with Italian stereotypes such as La Star, La Contessa and Miss Aperitivo, play directly into this narrative. In the film, the latter has Kendall Jenner in a silver cocktail dress, purring about how “great it feels on her body.” Demi Moore is resplendent in a Flora-print gown and all business in a sharp red coat dress. Giant double-G logos punctuate buttons, earrings and footwear. As the story unfolds, Barbara Gucci struggles to hold everything together, upholding the company’s reputation, impressing a guest of honour, being a mother, while desperately trying to stay in control. When the night takes an unexpected turn, her carefully crafted façade cracks, teetering on collapse as the family attempts to find a new way forward. An echo, perhaps, of the house’s own struggles.

Gucci’s reset comes at a moment of particular crisis for Kering. In the second quarter of 2025, the group reported revenue of 3.7 billion euros, down 18 per cent as reported and 15 per cent on a comparable basis. Gucci itself saw Q2 sales plunge by 25 per cent to about 1.46 bn euros. Over the first half of 2025, Gucci’s reported revenue slid 26 per cent (25 per cent on a comparable basis) year-on-year, bringing in 3 bn euros. The new aesthetic therefore arrives not just as a creative intervention but as a commercial imperative.

By timing the release of the collection during Milan Fashion Week, Gucci is unleashing momentum and bypassing traditional luxury production cycles and designer debuts. This capsule strategy does more than showcase speed and a rebrand; it aims to generate immediate revenue and, crucially, brand momentum in a period when both are under pressure. Lessons from the Sabato De Sarno era have been firmly learned, when it took “forever” for ranges seen on the catwalk to be merchandised in stores.

Bypassing traditional luxury production cycles

Tellingly, Demna does not attempt to erase what made Gucci great. The horsebit, the Flora print, the sex appeal, they are preserved yet rerouted through a fresh if ironic lens. The capsule’s early store presence suggests Gucci can’t afford to wait for the traditional runway-to-store pipeline. With wholesale sales having fallen by around 50 per cent in recent quarters, delaying product launches further is a liability. Instead, Gucci is aiming to shorten the lag between runway and retail, betting that immediacy will rekindle consumer interest and shore up revenues.

The collection also arrives in the wake of internal change. Francesca Bellettini has recently been appointed chief executive of Gucci, reporting to Kering’s new group chief executive, Luca de Meo. Their mandate is to sharpen product coherence, rein in costs, and reconnect with consumers. The fashion industry will look at La Famiglia as “collection zero” rather than a finale, an early barometer of whether the new leadership’s recalibration can translate into market share and margin recovery.

What are the risks?

After several seasons of what many considered creativity without direction, overly eclectic, sometimes incoherent, Gucci has lost some clarity. The new aesthetic must not just grab attention but deliver both desirability and proof in purchase behaviour. With recurring operating margin already down to around 16 per cent, a drop of nearly nine points year-on-year, cost control is necessary but difficult. Meanwhile, the collapse of wholesale revenue means reliance on direct retail and new channels is more acute than ever.

For a hopeful industry, the debuts of La Famiglia and The Tiger may finally reset the conversation and delight shoppers in its stores. In a luxury climate where heritage matters but so do surprise and agility, Demna’s first season could re-energise Gucci’s desirability.