If the new Gucci collection reminds you of the Tom Ford era, it’s not a coincidence, it’s entirely intentional

This fall, Demna didn’t want to stage a runway show. He needed a kind of transition between his last one for Balenciaga and his first for Gucci. Still, the collection had to meet the world. He went back into the archives and began digging through the house’s heritage. One era in particular pulled him in. “I discovered so many incredible Tom Ford pieces. I’ve always loved him as a designer, as the architect of a visual identity and everything he brought to fashion, but I had no idea about the Speedo with a tie [the Bastardo look from the La Famiglia line]. It’s genius. I was jealous. I almost had FOMO that I didn’t think of it myself. So I started hunting down those pieces and trying to buy them online, especially Tom Ford and Gucci from the seventies, which is almost impossible to find, and suddenly I thought: why don’t we make something that builds on that, something that reminds us what Gucci is? I curated and selected everything to reflect what it means to me. Before I start creating my own vision, I felt I needed that, not just for myself but for younger generations too.” From smoky eyes to seductive silhouettes, Ford’s DNA spills across the new lookbook imagery, and Demna makes no attempt to hide that this Pre-Fall 2026 collection is more than an homage. It’s a reinterpretation of the era.

Generation Gucci represents Demna’s ongoing exploration of archival and visual codes across different periods of the house’s history, the collection notes read. The collection blends multiple generations of product and visual identity into one aesthetic story, setting the stage for his own vision for the house, which will be revealed in February.

Built around the idea of an imaginary, historical Gucci show that never actually happened, the new campaign is filled with Ford’s unmistakable signatures: sharp tailored suits worn over bare chests, sleek aviator sunglasses, deep satin slits, and straight sand-washed denim. Alongside them, Demna brings in some of the house’s defining codes from the seventies and nineties, including full-velvet suits and leather racer jackets. The strong, feminine sensibility of Frida Giannini comes through in pussy-bow necklines and A-line skirts, while even Alessandro Michele’s quirky color-blocking and layered floral motifs get their moment.

Although Demna’s runway debut won’t arrive until February, Generation Gucci is already his second official collection for the house, following his first SS26 project unveiled in September. Also released as a lookbook, La Famiglia introduced a cast of fashion archetypes: the aforementioned Bastardo in a Speedo, the meticulous and demanding Primadonna, and the overbearing L’Influencer. Rooted in earlier references from different Gucci eras, that collection distilled the archive into clear, easily readable codes, while Generation Gucci feels like it brings those codes together in a freer, more experimental way. Whether Demna will continue his deep dive into the archive in February remains to be seen, but knowing the Georgian designer, we can expect something truly unexpected for Gucci’s new chapter.