Demna leaves Balenciaga for Gucci

After just 35 days, the wait for Gucci’s new artistic director is over: Demna has been revealed as the brand’s new boss. Rumours of who might be replacing Sabato De Sarno have been swirling all fashion season, with a litany of names thrown in the ring including Saint Laurent’s Anthony Vaccarello, Hedi Slimane and Maria Grazia Chiuri. Despite the relentless gossip, it’s Demna who has emerged victorious in the end. The designer will be exiting his role at Balenciaga with one final couture show on July 6.

During a surprise press conference at the Parisian headquarters of parent company Kering, the newly instated Gucci CEO Stefano Cantino said “Demna will bring to Gucci something exceptional. His way of defining fashion today is pretty unique, and this is what Gucci deserves and needs for the future.” Cantino also added that Demna has “proven his capability to reshape Balenciaga during his tenure, its identity and, of course, its fashion point of view.”

As creative director of Balenciaga, and Vetements prior to that, Demna shot to international acclaim for his overhauling of the legendary Parisian maison, starting his tenure almost a decade ago in December 2015. In that time, the Georgian designer has made his singular oversize aesthetic synonymous with the Balenciaga name, and in the process influenced how multiple generations of people dress, whether they be fashion fans or not.

Now, Demna assumes his new role following the short-lived tenure of former chief De Sarno, who was artistic director from January 2023 to February 2025. The changing of the guard comes during a prolonged period of manoeuvring at the top of luxury fashion. Just today it was announced that Donatella Versace would be transitioning to an ambassadorial role at the family firm, replaced by former Miu Miu design director Dario Vitale as creative director. And while empty jobs at houses like Maison Margiela and Jil Sander have been filled, the rumour mill continues to spin into overdrive, with many predicting the fates of designers from Vaccarello and Kim Jones to Jonathan Anderson and Maria Grazia Chiuri.

Scroll through the gallery above for Demna’s recent Balenciaga offering, and revisit Gucci’s AW25 interim collection by the label’s in-house design team below.