Demna Stages Gucci SS27 in a Fake Boutique — and Splits Critics

Demna unveiled his 'complete personal vision' for Gucci in a purpose-built store show at Milan Fashion Week, drawing praise from some outlets and scathing forum reviews.

On Friday, September 25, Demna presented Gucci's spring/summer 2027 collection in what the brand called 'The store show': a convention centre transformed into a sprawling retail space with giant stone columns and slabs of Paonazzo marble (fake, per The Guardian). Guests including Cardi B, Bianca Jagger, Romeo Beckham and Edward Norton sat on plush couches among shelves displaying pieces from previous collections, while sales assistants hovered nearby — unable, to some very important clients' disappointment, to actually sell anything. Reuters reports the setting was designed to preview how Demna's aesthetic could shape Gucci stores of the future.

Demna described the show as his 'complete personal vision' for the brand, built on three character archetypes: the rebellious aristocrat, the snob and the eccentric, The Guardian reports. The collection nodded to equestrian heritage with clingy white jodhpurs and spiky-heeled, stirrup-motif riding boots, tartan A-line skirts acknowledging London's Sloane Rangers, and 'nonnamaxxing' bourgeois Italian ladies in fuzzy coats and wiggly pencil skirts. ELLE Australia notes the show opened with white jodhpurs tucked into knee-high riding boots, followed by the sciure — impeccably dressed Milanese women in belted trenches and oversized sunglasses. Demna's show notes declared that 'Gucci is about luxury that wants to be seen.'

According to Reuters, the collection featured pagoda-shouldered tailoring and cropped, puff-shaped outerwear in Demna's third show, presenting men's and women's collections sequentially. The Guardian reports men's oversized tailoring with exaggerated peaked shoulders and low-hanging triple horse-bit belts, plus — despite Demna previously saying he wouldn't do hoodies at Gucci — hoodies did appear. For women, The Guardian describes a Tom Ford-era 'nocturnal glamour' with bottom-grazing hemlines and metal-heeled stilettos, including Alex Consani in a long black dress slit from toe to bust. ELLE Australia adds that exaggerated pointed shoulder jackets in fur and leather sat alongside rounded bombers layered over plaid kilts.

Not everyone is convinced. AOL reports that theFashionSpot forum members panned the collection as 'vulgar,' with one calling it 'pure vulgarity, paired with an absolute lack of vision' and 'just grotesque,' while others wrote 'What a pile of nothingness,' 'This screams DSquared2,' and 'I think this will be his final season.' The outlet notes models including Rosie Huntington-Whiteley strutted through the space in sequin dresses, baggy puffer jackets, high-shoulder blazers and sky-high stilettos. ELLE Australia, by contrast, framed the collection as Demna distilling Gucci to its essence — 'more sensible, more practical and, some may say, more Gucci.'

The pressure behind the show is enormous. The Guardian reports that Gucci, which accounts for roughly half of Kering's sales, saw revenue almost halve over three years after Sabato De Sarno's minimalist pivot, and Demna was hired from Balenciaga to make the brand relevant again. Reuters notes sales fell 3% in the second quarter — less than expected — as strong US demand for new handbags partly offset weaker spending elsewhere, suggesting the turnaround may be gaining traction. Kering chief executive Luca de Meo has said Gucci must be 'immediately recognisable and culturally pertinent,' according to The Guardian, which also reports Kering credited Demna's collections for a return to growth in July.

The AP, via WRAL, observes that Demna moved beyond the strict archetypes of his debut collection, proposing that customers borrow elements without becoming captive to them: 'My Gucci will look different to your Gucci,' as ELLE Australia paraphrases the message. The commercial imperative was unusually explicit — clothes intended to move from rack to wardrobe, with strongest looks like a double-breasted navy peacoat with high-heeled equestrian boots carrying clear retail appeal, per the AP. Whether the boutique-as-runway gamble converts divided critics into customers will show in how these looks land in Gucci's redesigned stores worldwide.