New York has always understood the power of a good outfit. From the sharp silhouettes of midtown to the effortless uniforms of downtown, getting dressed is rarely just about getting dressed. It’s about who you are, who you might become, and how much of yourself you choose to reveal. For GucciCore, Gucci turns to the city that never settles on a single identity, finding in its streets the perfect setting for a new chapter in the House’s evolving visual language.
Photographed by Peter Funch, the campaign captures groups of people across the city, bringing together businesspeople in pinstripes, skaters in relaxed tailoring, socialites in gowns, and women in fur coats worn with studied nonchalance. There’s no single protagonist or definitive uniform. Instead, GucciCore embraces the multiplicity of urban life, where different aesthetics coexist and personal style becomes a way of claiming space.
First unveiled on a runway in Times Square last May, the collection places the everyday wardrobe at the centre of the conversation. Pea coats, trench coats, classic shirts, pencil skirts, and office suits establish a familiar foundation, while Italian glamour and Gucci’s distinctive codes disrupt any suggestion of ordinary dressing. Reversible technical outerwear meets butter-soft leather, the emblematic Web stripe becomes a bandeau top, and sequins, beaded fringes, and feather embroideries bring a sense of preciousness to menswear. Practicality and extravagance are not opposing forces here but two sides of the same wardrobe.
This is where GucciCore finds its identity: in the tension between the essential and the unexpected. A tailored suit or a classic trench coat might traditionally signal uniformity, but their meaning shifts according to who wears them and how they are styled. The clothes provide continuity; the character remains open to interpretation. For Demna, this marks the fourth act in an ongoing exploration of character, following La Famiglia, Generation Gucci, and Primavera. Bringing together the visual languages of these previous chapters, the collection proposes a cohesive wardrobe that accommodates multiple identities rather than prescribing a single vision of Gucci. Elegance meets downtown irreverence, familiar silhouettes acquire new meaning, and dressing becomes an exercise in constant reinvention.
New York is more than a backdrop. From Madison Avenue to Brooklyn, from SoHo to Harlem, the city embodies the plurality at the heart of the campaign. It’s also a fitting setting for a House whose relationship with the city stretches back to 1953, when Gucci opened its first store outside Italy there.
At a time when fashion moves between the desire for timeless essentials and the impulse to reinvent everything, GucciCore proposes a different kind of permanence. Its pieces are designed to endure, but their identities are never fixed. The result is not a new uniform but an invitation to inhabit different versions of yourself. After all, the wardrobe may be core; the character is yours to choose.
