A fashion house like Gucci needs visions, not just clothes. History makes it clear: it needs the new messiah of the fashion system, not a decorator. And now that Demna is at the door, we can do nothing but hold our breath.

<a href="https://www.lofficielitalia.com/fashion-week/gucci-sfilata-cruise-2026-firenze-collezione-foto-look" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gucci</a> is not a brand to be rearranged with the harmony of that silent good taste . Gucci is a stage. A pop temple. A mythology in perpetual rewriting that has always required — and still calls today — a voice, an all-encompassing aesthetic, a ferocious point of view. Anyone who thinks that a creative team or a &quot;discreet&quot; hand can be enough is very wrong. The maison has survived and been reborn every time thanks to personalities who have been able to shape <a href="https://www.lofficielitalia.com/moda/gucci-foulard-di-seta-archivio-90-x-90-assouline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gucci</a> as a narrative universe even before an aesthetic one. And the lesson is not new: just look at what happened in the 90s, when a certain Tom Ford took over an anemic label and transformed it into sartorial eroticism — with a positive profit attached. Be careful, this time the &quot;but those were different times&quot; does not apply.

<h3 style="text-align: center;">1921–1990: The Artisan Era</h3>

Gucci Fall Winter 1987

Gucci Fall Winter 1980

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in Gucci in 1970

Gucci Spring Summer 1980

Gucci Spring Summer 1986

Gucci Spring Summer 1993

<h3 style="text-align: center;">1994–2004: Tom Ford , the hyper-glam obsession</h3>

Gucci Fall Winter 1996

Gucci Spring Summer 1996

Gucci Spring Summer 1997

Gucci Fall Winter 1999

Gucci Fall Winter 2003

Gucci Fall Winter 1995

Gucci Spring Summer 1998

After Ford&#39;s exit, Gucci began a long period of attempts at continuity (and no, we are not fans of this word), more or less successful. Alessandra Facchinetti was the first to pick up his legacy: talented but too immature, she brought to the catwalk two collections that were certainly well constructed, but lacked that visual and narrative shock that Gucci requires to survive. A name that blossomed too soon, alas , in a role that required more charisma than composure.

<h3 style="text-align: center;">2004–2005: Alessandra Facchinetti, the right designer at the wrong time</h3>

Gucci Spring Summer 2005

Then came Frida Giannini , who led the brand towards a more bourgeois and commercial luxury. Her Gucci was made of embroidery, 70s revival and coveted accessories. It was a market success, at least in the early years, but it did not leave such an indelible aesthetic mark. No revolution — just continuity (once again).

<h3 style="text-align: center;">2006–2015: The Bourgeois Luxury of Frida Giannini</h3>

Gucci Spring Summer 2011

Gucci Spring Summer 2009

Gucci Fall Winter 2007

Gucci Spring Summer 2012 Collection

<a href="https://www.lofficielitalia.com/fashion-week/valentino-vertigineux-primavera-estate-2025-sfilata-haute-couture-alessandro-michele-video" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alessandro Michele</a> , on the other hand, took all this and blew it up. He invented a completely new imagery, dreamlike, fluid, baroque, cultured and anarchic. He blew up the very concept of maison, bringing not clothes, but worlds on stage. You could love him or hate him, but it was impossible to ignore him. For almost 8 years, Gucci had an all-encompassing aesthetic, capable of fusing fashion, history, philosophy and irony. A global cult.

<h3 style="text-align: center;">2015–2022: Alessandro Michele, the Kingdom of Excess</h3>

Gucci's "Twinsburg" Collection 2023

Gucci Cruise 2020 Collection

Gucci Cruise 2019 Collection

Gucci's "Cosmogonie" collection in Castel Del Monte (Puglia) in 2022

Gucci Fall Winter 2018/2019

Gucci Fall Winter 2015/2016

Gucci Fall Winter 2016/2017

&quot;It&#39;s clear, Gucci speaks only when a visionary gives it voice&quot;

And it is in this context that <a href="https://www.lofficielitalia.com/moda/sabato-de-sarno-lascia-gucci-direttore-creativo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sabato De Sarno</a> comes in, called to “normalize” the chaos left by Michele. But how can you normalize a brand that lives only in excess? With &quot;Ancora&quot; he showed a cleaned up, tidy Gucci, designed to please everyone. But the effect was the opposite: a collection that seems already forgotten before it has even settled. A Facchinetti 2.0 , yes — but in an era that does not forgive shyness. The De Sarno era seems to be over , perhaps before it has even really begun. Too polite to inflame, too shy to break. Gucci, on the other hand, needs to burn. And who knows, maybe Demna will be the right fuel? With his conceptual brutality, his post-Soviet language, his anti-beauty aesthetics taken to the extreme, he could finally bring Gucci back to being something more than a brand : a debate, an aesthetic short circuit, a story to tell.

<h3 style="text-align: center;">2023–2024: The Comfort Zone of Sabato De Sarno</h3>

Gucci Isn’t a Brand, It’s a Vision

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