Gucci tapped the creative director of Demona, Balesiaga as the new designer

The great Guchi reset is here. On Wednesday, the Italian Fashion House named Damna, which is a monomic designer, who turned Balenciaga into one of the most stimulating, boundary-breaking brands of the previous decade from a niche luxury house, which is its new artistic director. He will be in charge of women’s wear, men wear and accessories.

Gucci and Balesiaga are owned by Karing, the French group who own St. Laurent, Mcqueen, Bruone and Botga Veneta. A new designer has not been announced for Balensiaga.

“Guchi stands for the Fashion Authority,” said Gucci CEO Stephano Cantino said. “This is what we want to bring back.”

Damna will be the first “star” designer with a proven track record in Gucci’s 104 -year history, which seems to be a crisis experienced in the last two years after a clear attempt to resume itself as a timeless luxury brand. Revenue fell 23 percent in 2024, and the price of Kairing Stock has been reduced to half since 2023. (Gucci Kairing is the largest brand ever in stable.)

The appointment will already add more upheaval to the world of unresolved fashion, with a record number of fashion companies in the previous year replaced the design heads. Half of the half brands alone alone will be new designers in 2025.

“We were looking for a strong and opinion designer,” said Mr. Cantino. “Deman is one of some.” He not only brings design skills with him, Mr. Cantino said, but “an understanding of contemporary culture, which is luxury today and a deep understanding of the new generation.”

He also brings a certain knowledge of Gucci. In 2021, Damna and Alesandro Mitchell, at that time “hack” in Gucci designers, each other brands, to re -interpret their most recognizable designs, Damna replaced Gucci’s famous double GS with BS on her classic logo canvas accessories. And he believes in Kairing’s CEO François Henry Pinout, who once told The New York Times that he believes that Demna could create a “megabrand”.

When Mr. Pinault nominated Georgian-Janme Deman Gasalia (she split her nickname in 2021) in 2015 in Balensiaga, however, the fashion world was surprised.

However, now 43-year-old Damna had obtained her master’s degree from Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium, and trained in the studio of Martin Margila and Lewis Wuiton, she created a calendary-like label in 2014, which became a fashion sensation almost overnight due to its nose. AntiFashion beauty. (Demna Left Waitments in 2019.)

However, during Damna’s 10 years in Balesiaga, the revenue increased to close to $ 390 million to $ $ 2 billion, challenging the meaning of luxury, value and authenticity in the process.

He took the Kwidian – Crokes, Ekia Tots, even garbage bags – and put them on a chair. He started the demon sneaker trend almost single-form. He placed all ages and types of gender and beauty on his runway and made shows that were immersive, apocalypse experiences that served as social criticism as fashion: climate crisis, Ukraine’s war, celebrity and rule of capitalism. He intimidated and thrilled in equal measurements.

He collaborated with “The Simpsons”, created a Balesiaga video game and attended the mate with Kim Kardashian. He resumed the coture line and never lost the purity of the silhouette, which featured the work of the designer, Christobal Balensiaga.

The speed of Balenciaga came to a sudden stop in 2023, when a wrong holiday advertisement dismissed the online allegations of Podophilia, and Damna’s deep friendship with you put a shadow on the brand in view of this antisemitic rant. It was canceled, but Balesiaga eventually took himself away from the controversy, and since then it has recovered some of its strengths. In January, Demna was made a Shewellier Des Arts at des Latress in the recognition of her contribution to French fashion. He wore a T-shirt.

Demon’s last Balsiaga show held in Paris on 9 March, was retrieved by a career and reminded what he had brought to the house. After the show, he joked reporters that the reason he wore a suit for the first time was that he was Demona 2.0.

Gucci news suggests that it was less joke than that time.

“Deman’s contribution to the industry contributed to the industry, Balensiaga and the success of the group, has been tremendous for the success of the group,” François-Henry Pinauul said in a news release. “His creative power is really needed to Gucci.”

Franceska Belletini, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Kairing, called him a “right catalyst”.

Damna replaced a designer, a designer who worked behind the curtain in Valentino before Alesandro Michel’s Magpai Maximism was accused of Gucci’s reset. ,

It turned out to be wrong. Instead of giving the brand to some extent as a hip as a hip, the luxury minimalism of Sri D. Sarno was just reduced. (It turns out that a hermes is sufficient.) Damna’s job will all change, although she will not only have to overcome the problems of Gucci, but will also have a challenge of recession in the broad luxury industry.

There is a fixed appeal in this, Mr. Cantino said.

For Damna, Mr. Cantino said, “The idea of ​​being able to create a success in Gucci proves that she is able to do something different from Balensiaga and show a different approach, was very exciting.”

Gucci did not confirm when Damna would show her first collection, but she would begin in early July after her final Balenciaga Couture show. (Gucci is not a Cutor House.) He will divide his time between his home in Switzerland and Guchi headquarters in Milan.