In July 2025, Demna took over Gucci’s creative direction. Since then, his vision for the house has been the subject of criticism, speculation, and discourse throughout the fashion ecosystem. Would this simply be another Tom Ford? Would he Balenciaga-ify the brand? Demna made us wait, but with Gucci’s latest runway, titled “The Store Show,” those questions have finally been answered.

“My first year at Gucci was dedicated to understanding and formulating what Gucci stands for,” Demna said in a manifesto drafted for the show. “The conclusion of my research is that Gucci stands for being rooted in the desire to belong to a more glamorous world, and in the audacity to remake that world in your own image.”

It is all about tension. As Demna points out in his manifesto, it is the tension between “bourgeois respectability” and “eccentricity,” “danger” and “sex appeal” that has defined Gucci’s most memorable eras. Expertly tailored blazers are cut with sharp collars that extend well beyond the models’ necks. Ties are tucked into waistbands. Dark and light denim appears in both sleek, Mediterranean cuts and stacked, oversized silhouettes.

The backdrop of the show plays a role that cannot be overlooked. Considering Demna’s deliberate positioning of Gucci somewhere between aristocracy and pop culture, a retail store is a fitting place to stage a runway. Storefronts function both as forward-facing expressions of a brand and as commercial spaces that enable its creativity. Another tension emerges: the consumerism inherent in fashion set against Demna’s desire to create art.