Demna, who became Gucci’s artistic director last year, chose the most commercially saturated block of real estate on Earth to present GucciCore, a Cruise 2027 collection of reliable, well-made basics that had been missing from the brand during its recent designer transitions. No brand had ever attempted anything quite so brazen at that address. Gucci opened its first store outside of Italy in New York City in 1953, so there was history here, too—not just spectacle.
The show began at 8:30 p.m. with a 30-minute pre-show montage projected across 50 multistory digital screens. Demna filled those towering billboards with footage of sunsets, galloping horses, and snow-capped mountains. He cut between this footage and mock advertisements for invented Gucci products, such as Gucci Acqua, Gucci Gym, and Gucci Life longevity supplements. It sounds absurd, and that was the point. “I love that contrast. Gucci is quirky. Gucci is fun,” Demna said ahead of the show. The idea was to pit the raw beauty of the natural world against the relentless commercialism of Times Square, one of the most visited places on the planet.
Did it work as a concept? Mostly, yes. The setting was chaotic by design with sirens, honking horns, and the usual Saturday night human traffic continuing beyond the high black barriers. Demna admitted that he is usually rigorous to the point of obsession about his presentations but said that this was perhaps the one show where he genuinely could not control his environment. Only the clothes, he said.
And the clothes rewarded attention. At a preview, the GucciCore wardrobe was arranged like a well-stocked store, with jackets ranging from fitted to generously oversized and skirts ranging from short trapeze shapes to calf-length pleated versions in scarf prints. There was also a red peacoat made from the same heavy English wool used for the uniforms of Britain’s Royal Guards. There was a precise pencil skirt reminiscent of the Tom Ford era at Gucci, a cropped leather jacket over a slouchy paisley shirt, and a hand-painted Flora coat from the 1960s with racing details — the kind of piece that would look good uptown or downtown. Demna described the collection as “probably the most commercial collection I’ve ever done,” and you could see exactly what he meant.
The cast did much of the heavy lifting. Cindy Crawford closed the show in a feathered black gown. Tom Brady walked in head-to-toe black leather. A brunette Paris Hilton wore a bright yellow printed dress. Stormzy, Willy Chavarria, and Iman sat in the audience with Kim Kardashian and Mariah Carey. Anna Wintour watched from the front row. The effect was deliberate. Demna wanted the clothes to look like those worn by people you might pass on the street: the commuting banker in a pinstripe suit carrying a logoed tote or the downtown woman in shearling clutching a bouquet and her iPhone. New York types, essentially.
Not everything landed with the same assurance, though. Some of the edgier, more seasonal pieces—the red and green web stripe bandeau tops and certain looks that carried echoes of Demna’s Balenciaga tenure—felt less resolved than the wardrobe staples surrounding them. When 90 percent of what you’re showing is core product, the remaining 10 percent has to work harder to stand out.
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That said, this felt like the most complete and convincing statement Demna has made at Gucci so far. It was more grounded than his Milan debut in February and more clear in its ambitions. He put it plainly: “What you see here is a garment vocabulary, and then you can compose your own words with it.” A limited-edition Gucci NY capsule celebrating the city’s spirit through accessories, shoes, and handbags launched Sunday at five New York locations and online.
