There are shows that build suspense, and there are shows that leave you suspended. Nearly a decade ago, Tim Blanks wrote that “the revolution will be branded as Vetements,” back when Demna was still its chief agitator. Today, presenting his fourth collection for Gucci, that revolution appears to have survived.

Staged in the middle of Times Square, with blocks of New York brought to a halt, which almost never happens, the collection, titled GucciCore, gestured to New York’s place in Gucci history as the brand’s first international outpost. More importantly, it gave weight to an idea Demna has long insisted on: clothes should not be separated from the people who wear them.

This may be his most Demna collection for Gucci yet, which should quiet, at least for a moment, those who dismissed the Tom Ford and Frida Giannini references in his previous outings as party tricks done in poor taste. Here were the familiar Demna gestures, translated into an NYC vocabulary: stockbroker suits so plain they became suspicious, Park Avenue fur coats with blunt glamour, Flushing youths carrying flowers to a date, and tourists crossing Broadway as though plucked from the street and dropped straight into the show.

It was certainly more intentional than the man who accidentally wandered into a fashion show at Sydney’s Tamarama Beach earlier this week, though the effect was not entirely different. Cindy Crawford, Paris Hilton, and Gabbriette also walked the show, which felt appropriately New York in its own absurd way. It’s a confusion known only to Demna. For better or worse, he has finally brought it back to Gucci.

But the commercial reality is less amusing. Kering reported an 8% drop in comparable Gucci revenue, missing analyst expectations and sending the stock down. Against that backdrop, GucciCore becomes a wager, and likely an expensive one, on whether Demna can still push Gucci, and by extension Kering, back into the modern zeitgeist as time runs short. With this Cruise 2027 outing, it appears he can. Whether the clothes can do the same once the traffic starts moving again is the more interesting question.

Once you are done with this story, click here to catch up with our May 2026 issue.