Demna Ditches the Runway for Cinema with Gucci’s 'The Tiger'; Alia Bhatt and Alex Consani in Attendance

When Demna Gvasalia stepped into Gucci’s palazzo on the opening night of Milan Fashion Week, he did what the fashion world now expects of him: he upended it. Rather than stage a traditional runway show, Gucci premiered The Tiger — a short film co-directed by Academy Award-winner Spike Jonze and Halina Reijn — and used cinema as the unveiling platform for La Famiglia, Demna’s first collection for the House. The result was less catwalk and more theatrical premiere, a deliberate soft-launch that framed Gucci’s heritage through a new, unapologetically cinematic lens.

The Tiger is the engine that drives the collection into story. In the film, Demi Moore plays a glamorous, brittle matriarch whose birthday evening staged in an opulent family home peels back the varnish of curated perfection. The cast is an A-list roll call (Edward Norton, Ed Harris, Elliot Page, Keke Palmer, Kendall Jenner and rising runway names including Alex Consani among them), their wardrobes serving as narrative shorthand. The directors spoke publicly about prioritising mood and character over sheer opulence, letting Demna’s clothes feed the drama rather than the other way around.

But the film was only one part of Demna’s gambit. Ahead of the screening the house released La Famiglia as a portrait-driven lookbook, 37 looks shot by Catherine Opie and presented as multiple archetypes: L’Archetipo, Incazzata, La Bomba, La Cattiva, Miss Aperitivo, L’Influencer and a cast of eccentrics who together map a social world Demna calls (with the press) the “Gucciness” of Gucci.

The imagery is deliberate: lacquered frames, cinematic light and faces that read like family portraits, all of which position Gucci less as a label and more as a shared aesthetic language. That digital-first move — a lookbook drop and then a film premiere — underlined the designer’s intent to forever run astray from the norm.

The screening doubled as Gucci’s most star-studded front row. Alia Bhatt’s appearance made headlines. The actor paired a chevron shearling coat with a lace-and-satin slip dress, gold belt, earrings, and the reimagined Gucci Bamboo bag. The look translated the collection’s mix of sprezzatura and high drama for the red carpet, and underscored Gucci’s strategy of cross-market celebrity casting at its most literal. The night drew Hollywood names and fashion royalty: Demi Moore, Gwyneth Paltrow, Serena Williams and an array of actors and influencers who wore the collection as if it were costume and autograph all at once.

Why this matters: Demna’s debut is a staged thesis. By releasing La Famiglia online and by premiering The Tiger in Milan, Gucci signalled a new operating logic — one that privileges storytelling, theatricality and strategic star power over the seasonal ritual of the runway. Kering’s backing and the decision to preview pieces on Instagram before the screening are tactical, responsive moves in an industry that increasingly values cultural moments over mere product drops. Demna’s full runway return for Gucci remains scheduled for February; La Famiglia reads as his manifesto — a catalog of characters and codes that will define the House’s next year.