Will Demna truly disrupt Gucci? Inside the strategy that shoock fashion
Demna has turned Balenciaga into a cultural fault line. Now, at Gucci, he is poised to astonish, outrage, provoke, and mesmerise clients. Will he deliver?
Relentlessly challenging the norms and aesthetics of the fashion industry, Demna’s bold attitude made Balenciaga great again. He now joins Gucci after the brand previously established its identity under Alessandro Michele and then went full heritage with Sabato De Sarno.
Let’s discover the identity and journey that make Demna the right person to rethink the DNA of a brand in order to appeal to demanding customers in an ever-changing market.
View this post on Instagram
Demna’s Early Years: A Georgian in Paris’s High-Fashion Olympus
A former war refugee born in Soviet Georgia, Demna faced bullying during his teenage years in Moscow. He eventually moved to Tbilisi to attend University, where he graduated in Fashion Design.
He then relocated to Paris, where, with no connections, he started a skyrocketing career in fashion. His journey began at Maison Margiela, where he supervised women’s collections from 2009 to 2013. Then, he joined Louis Vuitton for women’s collections under the guidance of Marc Jacobs.
In 2014, it was time for Demna to showcase his true colours as a conceptualist and innovator. Along with a small group of friends and his brother Guram Gvasalia, he launched the luxury fashion brand Vetements, named after the French word for clothes, with a mission to be bold and disruptive. The following year, he succeeded Alexander Wang as the creative director of Balenciaga.
While Vetements’ fashion shows took place in Parisian clubs before landing beneath the iconic cupola of Galeries Lafayette and Centre Pompidou—thereby redefining the concept of catwalks—Demna was also reimagining Balenciaga’s identity and heritage within the realm of modernist haute couture.
Post-Irony and the Remaking of High Fashion by Demna
For 10 years, Demna led Balenciaga with his bold vision, blending a dark and edgy style. Meanwhile, Gucci, also part of the Kering Group, was developing a post-gender, retro-geek aesthetic under Alessandro Michele. This period marked a remarkable decade for both brands, reigniting faith in luxury fashion through clever and unconventional use of irony.
Demna’s career has not only reshaped the contemporary fashion landscape but has also attracted new customers and engaged younger generations of luxury fashion enthusiasts. These consumers value authenticity and prefer individuality over polished perfection and mass-market trends.
Visualizza questo post su Instagram
He infused Balenciaga’s collections with a sense of post-irony, drawing on subversive streetwear influences and demonstrating a keen understanding of the cultural zeitgeist with an iconoclastic approach. His avant-garde talent laid the groundwork for his distinctive design philosophy.
He has always been aware of social issues, subtly referencing historical events and contemporary anxieties in his collections. For instance, oversized silhouettes that might offer a sense of shelter in a frightening world or workwear-inspired apparel that emphasises practicality.
Demna: Fashion’s Picasso?
Demna has a bold and ironic approach to engaging with other brands’ cultures, often blurring the lines between high and low culture, as seen with items like the $300 DHL t-shirt, navigating ambiguity like a pioneer. However, it’s essential to recognise that, much like a contemporary Picasso, Demna first mastered the art and science of fashion design—the rigour and structure—of fashion design before embarking on his disruptive journey.
His understanding of garment construction was honed during his years at Maison Margiela, while his time at Louis Vuitton years cultivated his taste for unconventional materials and techniques. The anonymity he experienced at Maison Margiela has also influenced his character, allowing him to maintain a low profile and avoid the clichés associated with celebrity designers in luxury fashion.
It was the Vetements project that thrust him into the spotlight and solidified his reputation as a disruptive force in fashion design rooted in subcultures and streetwear. The produced items—such as DHL logo t-shirts, ugly shoes like Triple S, collabs with Crocs, deconstructed jeans, and oversized hoodies—stand as tangible results of these successful experimental years.
Irony and Ugliness as a Counterpoison to Boredom
Luxury codes can often be predictable. Demna has consistently demonstrated a keen understanding of contemporary culture, infused with a sharp sense of irony. By challenging the traditional foundations of luxury, he has effectively subverted conventional status symbols, offering an unfiltered aesthetic that resonates with the meme generation.
The “ugly-chic” aesthetic has been one of the most distinctive and disruptive elements of Demna’s signature at Balenciaga. Chunky, oversized, and awkward silhouettes have redefined conventional notions of elegance.
His exploration of branding and the “appropriation” of other brands’ logos has sparked considerable debate. While many luxury brands opt to hide their logos, Demna boldly places the brand’s name in capital letters all over Balenciaga’s iconic products, from hoodies to handbags. This prominent display of the logo was a clever commercial strategy, making the brand more recognisable and a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the inherent value of luxury brands.
Demna’s Balenciaga Years: Amplifying the Founder’s Vision of Luxury
In 2015, Balenciaga was a heritage house renowned for Cristóbal Balenciaga’s sculptural and innovative silhouettes, a whole different galaxy from the disruptive streetwear aesthetic that Demna (and Guram Gvasalia) built with Vetements.
However, Demna proved to be a transformative force, incorporating new shapes like oversized proportions and new creative forms like deconstruction. Meanwhile, he also succeeded in reinterpreting Balenciaga’s iconic codes, such as exaggerating the cocoon coat and the sculptural shoulders.
View this post on Instagram
Criticism of Demna: Hype or Nonsense?
Demna has redefined the landscape of modern fashion during a golden era for heritage brands, appealing to a new generation of customers who are unfazed by traditional luxury and reject status symbols.
Although he has succeeded in creating new desires by elevating everyday items and creating instant cult classics, many of his critics have frowned upon his approach.
Demna has faced accusations of producing overpriced versions of ordinary clothing, attempting to deceive naive customers with nonsensical items disguised as provocative pieces, such as the $4400 tape bracelet or the $2,145 blue bag reminiscent of Ikea.
View this post on Instagram
Unwearable pieces like the Balenciaga x Adidas “pant shoes” and the limited-edition destroyed sneakers, which were produced only in 100 pairs, are key items that underscore Demna’s efforts to keep Balenciaga at the forefront of fashion by riding the hype for a decade.
Nonetheless, his career has been deeply influenced by the work of peers who have engaged in similar disruptive work for heritage brands, such as Nicolas Ghesquière at Balenciaga before him, Alessandro Michele at Gucci in the same decade, and Hedi Slimane while leading menswear at Dior and Saint Laurent.
View this post on Instagram
That’s why we can’t wait to be astonished, outraged, provoked, and mesmerised again by Demna’s next visionary move for Gucci.