Gucci: Demna Gvasalia and the ghost of Tom Ford.

 

Kate Moss closed the show. That says it all.

The legendary supermodel, direct heir to Brigitte Bardot, was the one chosen to close the runway at Demna Gvasalia’s debut as Gucci’s creative director, the most anticipated moment of the year in high fashion. The enfant terrible of couture, shaped over a decade at Balenciaga, arrived at his new house without asking permission.

And he did it in one single blow.

The collection was called Gucci Primavera. Body hugging outfits, leather jackets, skinny jeans, bare feet, exposed muscles, polo shirts, green and red stripes, and the Gucci logo shouted everywhere in the most strident way. Moss’s stone carved face moving down the runway as if the last thirty years had never happened. The shadow of Tom Ford and the sex of the 90s was not evoked with nostalgia but summoned with purpose. Demna did not quote that era, he inhabited it in a radical way.

Moss was not alone. Alex Consani, Emily Ratajkowski, Gabriette, Mariacarla Boscono and Vivian Jenna Wilson also walked, presences that reinforced the message without needing any explanation.

What Demna built on the runway did not come out of nowhere. Months earlier he had already stirred the waters with a short film called The Tiger, directed by Spike Jonze and Halina Reijn and starring Demi Moore, and with concepts such as La Famiglia. A few days ago he released a series of images, some classic from the Gucci house, others generated with artificial intelligence. The response was brutal. Pure provocation. But provocation without talent behind it is just noise, and Demna has talent to spare.

It was almost obvious that he would invoke the atmosphere of Tom Ford. What was not obvious was how he would do it. And that is the difference. Demna did it his way. He blended tradition and hypermodernity with a precision that is not easy to achieve, and he had the intelligence not to chase surprise but to clearly define a direction from the very first step.

The contrast with his Balenciaga era is revealing. There he appeared shy, and the loose clothing protected the body, hid it. At Gucci the opposite happens: the tight clothing exposes it and offers it up for admiration. There is confidence in every cut. There is intention in every centimeter of fabric.

Sex sells. That has always been Gucci. What Demna adds now is a dose of subversion that shakes Italian glamour without destroying it. Tension and drama in masterful balance between the commercial and the conceptual. European 70s cinema, glam rock and contemporary hip hop fused into a single collection. One of the best high fashion debuts of the year so far. No discussion.