Take your Seats for Demna’s Brave New Era
Review of Gucci Spring 2026 Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Return to Decadence, Archetypes, Fashion Meets Film
Opening the first day of Milan fashion week, Demna put on a production as only he knows how. Premiering his critique of the fashion industry-at-large the screening of The Tiger was worthy of the Cannes film festival, as A-list celebrities – Gwyneth Paltrow, Serena Williams – took to the burgundy carpet alongside the films cast members, including Demi Moore and Elliot Page costumed for the occasion as their characters, in head-to-toe Gucci. Not even a billboard on sunset boulevard could have aided a more powerful product launch. As a sidenote this spectacle served as an interesting commentary on the evolution of fashions inextricable tie-in with the entertainment industry. At every red-carpet event, the perennial question of ‘Who are you wearing?’ is just as important as their thoughts on the film. The premiere also served as an unofficial runway with models ‘arriving’ to the premiere in ‘La Famiglia’ looks.
The screening was a transatlantic affair, streamed simultaneously as it was in both New York and Milan. The film follows Moore as Barbara Gucci ‘Head of Gucci International and Chairman of California’ – that last part seemingly all the more plausible, that a state can become incorporated is not so laughable in today’s political climate where billionaires see no limits on what their money can buy – who has gathered her friends and family to celebrate her birthday. The short film directed by Spike Jonze (the notoriously left-field director of Being John Malcovich and Her fame) and Halina Reijn is a satirical romp that defies the fashion industry and its eco-system not to recognise itself in both the cast of characters (Moore, Harris and Paige are joined by Edward Norton, Keke Palmer, Kendal Jenner, Alex Consani, Ronny Chieng, Julianna Nicholson, Heather Lawless, and Alia Shawkat) amid the deeper themes it explores – imposter syndrome, acerbic criticism, perfectionism, and indulging in luxury fashion when the world feels as if its crumbling (look out for a metaphor of this in the major fault line disruption threatening to consume California Inc).
The Tiger feels like it was written for all the designers debuting this season and the angst around living up to legacy. In one scene while talking to Ed Harris’ character Demi Moore aka Barbara Gucci manifests this perfectly when she says, “I’m just trying to live up to what he started” and takes a sideways glance at the – La Famiglia – collection she was just previewing”.
Was art was imitating life? Newly appointed artistic director Demna recently released his first collection concept called La Famiglia and it was a study in Gucci’s Gucciness, and Italian archetypes – from the La Bomba to the Sciura – as the Italian fashion house is readying itself to embark on a new era, when the designer finally goes full throttle on his vision for the brand next February for fall 2026. Although widely well-received as blending both Guccisms and Demnaisms, it would take no stretch of the imagination to see Moore as a stand-in for Demna himself and his – very valid – concerns over living up to the legacy of one of the most important and influential fashion houses in history, and the literal jewel in Kering’s crown, accounting for half of its annual sales. The weight of the task ahead of him would seem insurmountable had he not come from a tenure turning another heritage house inside out, much to the ire and awe of the industry’s fiercest critics, lovers, and detractors.
The film’s central protagonist, a third or fourth generation Gucci, has invited Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Harlan Whitman (Ed Harris, who is profiling her for a piece for Vanity Fair) to her birthday dinner, and is painfully aware that he is a man that can make or break a company. In contrast she has also invited her twin cousins who Braxton (Elliot Page) reminds everyone are also equally as influential, but always “mean” to Moore as Keke Palmer points out. The inclusion of these characters goes to the heart of The Tiger and the tightrope all creative directors walk when they helm a heritage house. In the same way Demi Moore is taking a beating in the opening scenes, so to do these creative and artistic directors. And with the advent of social media fashion criticism has exploded as a lucrative cottage industry where hot takes and take downs can result in CEO’s ‘caving to the criticism’ and terminating contracts early – you simply have to look to Demna’s predecessor, Maria Grazia Chiuri, and Virginie Viard for three recent examples of the criticism embodied by the twins (played by Julianna Nicholson and Heather Lawless) becoming the bane of the existence to designers working today. In contrast, though the twins are tolerated as a necessary evil (Moore reminds everyone they are family after all) and welcomed into her home (a metaphor for the front row perhaps?) it is the approval of the seasoned critic that matters most, as she is constantly aware of how she is being perceived, during her collection run-through, during dinner, constantly striving to say and do the right thing that will influence the write-up of a positive profile – so as not to ‘break’ her career. Such is the importance of the seasoned critic, Demna may be encouraging us to return to discernment.
Outside of a really well-made film, Demna will have no doubt sparked debate around how we treat each other in fashions wider eco-system, entertainment as the new delivery method for fashion, and the creative now burdened by commerce, expectation, and the pressure to deliver meaningfully in a climate marred by chaos, and how to appease all the different personalities, egos, and critics, some who have risen the ranks to a place of self-imposed importance. In embracing, acknowledging, and accepting it all Demna is letting The Tiger eat him.
THE DIRECTION
THE QUOTE
When we decided to do a film, the question was: what’s the message?…For me, it was about our obsession with perfection — being the perfect son, designer, husband, friend. It’s impossible, and the pursuit only frustrates us. The truth is in imperfection — in making mistakes, not always looking good. That’s the substance of being human”
Demna, Artistic Director, Gucci
THE WRAP UP
If nothing else Demna has found a new niche in film – in reference to Barbara Gucci ending the film by saying “I want to be a lot of things – as from the set design to the music (hello Doechi!!) to the decadence of the mood lighting, not to mention the costume design which seamlessly merged with the characters and the lives they lived. Keke Palmer, Alia Shawkat and Demi Moore captured the pomp and ceremony of dressing for dinner that is likely a reality for many who exist in the upper echelons of society. And who will have been taking notes on the looks they were going to purchase from the see-now, buy-now La Famiglia launch.
Product placement at its finest, as not only does the collection embody the spirit of Gucci past and present it feels like it is formally giving permission to dress up once again, and it won’t be lost on anyone that Demna drew on Alessandra Michele’s unashamedly maximalist era for that validation.
