As is the customary practice for any 21st-century brand, Gucci’s new era began with a social media wipe down. At the beginning of the week, the Italian house stripped its Instagram page bare, and then proceeded to populate it with a series of images, each captioned with the name of today’s collection: Primavera. Much like Demna’s frame of references, the teasers varied in tone. Some were archive images of Michelangelo’s David, a pair of crumpled loafers, or a 60s Sophia Loren shopping in a Gucci store; others were AI generated images depicting a glamorous signora, a Guccified space satellite, and a pair of oil-slicked models. Though there was some backlash to the AI, the brand ploughed on, posting more photographs of Diana Vreeland, The Birth of Venus, and Latto lounging with a (stuffed?) tiger.

On the eve of the show, Demna followed up all the images with a long note explaining his brand new vision for the house. “Today is the birthday of my vision for Gucci. A house that has lived many lives. A brand that has defined and redefined what luxury means and what fashion dares to become,” he wrote. “It has become clear to me what my mission here really is. Above the product, Gucci is culture, it is a way of thinking and a way of being. Gucci needs to become a feeling. Gucci must become an adjective.”

Last year, the Georgian designer trawled through the Gucci archives in order to understand “the gucciness of Gucci”, which he showed “fragments of” in SS26’s La Famiglia collection, as well as Gucci Generation, the Pre-fall 2026 offering. So, while AW26 may not be Demna’s very first outing for Gucci, think of those past two collections as an amuse-bouche for today’s blockbuster main course. Filled with supermodels and stars, both on and off the catwalk, today’s spectacle proved that Demna really does know how to put on a debut. Scroll down for everything that went down.

A FASHION MUSEUM

If Demna’s iconic Balenciaga showspaces were anything to go by, his tenure at Gucci would be just as visually dramatic. For AW26, guests walked into a gargantuan oblong room, with god-like statues lining the huge walls, a space that felt part Roman temple, part museum exhibit.

“Presenting [the collection] in a monumental, museum-like space, surrounded by marble statuary, expresses how I view this incredible house,” wrote Demna in show notes. “Mirroring my vision, it is soundtracked by a juxtaposition of five distinct genres curated by loki, shaped into a singular sound aesthetic.”

DONATELLA SPOTTED IN GUCCI

While Demna quite literally rolled out the red carpet for his SS26 movie premiere, this season wasn’t short of a superstar or two. Sitting on the front row at MFW was Steve Lacy, Romeo Beckham, Paris Hilton, Nicky Hilton, Demi Moore (with her chihuahua Pilaf), Rico Nasty, Shawn Mendes, Moses Sumney, Lee Know, Alton Mason, Kim Petras, Nadia Lee Cohen and EsDeeKid in his usual incognito drag. Joining them, however, were two very unexpected guests: former Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele, and Versace family matriarch Donatella Versace. Though she may no longer be designing for the brand, we very rarely see Donatella in anything other than Versace, so to see her covered in the Gucci logo was probably the biggest surprise on the front row.

A SKINTIGHT SENSIBILITY

“This collection establishes a new vocabulary of silhouettes, textures, and materials,” wrote Demna in this season’s notes. “It informs ideas of lightness, ease, comfort, and body-aware silhouettes… pieces cut as close as possible to the body, a quintessentially Gucci sensibility.” With that in mind, British model Charlie Jones opened the show in a second skin white minidress, so tight it practically could’ve been latex, while male models in muscle tees came after, followed by skinny leather jackets and bottoms with hip cut-outs that towed the line between legging and trouser. Overall, the collection had a strong 2000s vibe to it, with Demna clearly set on reviving the sexiest era of Gucci.

FOR THE GODS

Since becoming Gucci creative director, Demna has fully immersed himself in classical European culture, and it seems to have rubbed off on today’s collection. Statues like Michelangelo’s David influenced the chiseled Adonis looks, where models wore muscle tees with built-in abs; a white gown worn by Vivian Wilson on the runway was based on Botticelli’s Birth of Venus; while skater tees styled over one should looked like togas worn by Greek gods.

DID THE CATWALK OUTSHINE THE FROW?

While the front row was packed out with famous faces, this wouldn’t be a blockbuster debut without an all-star runway cast, too. Treading the boards for Demna this season were faces like Amelia Gray, Alex Consani, Gabbriette and model-of-the-moment Charlie Jones, who were also joined by Vivian Wilson, Vittoria Ceretti, Liu Wen, Mariacarla Boscono and Eastenders star Bobby Brazier. And if that wasn’t enough, Karlie Kloss, Elsa Hosk and Emily Ratajkowski all made very rare runway appearances, joined by none other than Kate Moss herself, who closed the catwalk in a glimmering backless gown and white gold Gucci logo thong, which had been bedazzled with 10-carat diamonds. We told you it was a blockbuster!

FAKEMINK AND NETTSPEND WORKED IT OUT ON THE RUNWAY

As well as half the world’s supermodels, the Primavera catwalk also played host to rising UK Ug star fakemink, who stopped halfway down the runway to check his phone, as well as 18-year-old American rapper Nettspend. The two were embroiled in a bit of a beef at the end of 2025, and though the origins of the rift are not exactly clear to us, we’re hoping they had a nice chat backstage and worked it out on the runway.

Scroll through the galleries above for the entire AW26 collection