This year will mark a whole new chapter for the House of Gucci, who will welcome its new creative director Demna Gvasalia in just a matter of months. It’s fitting, then, that ahead of a season of change and transition, that the brand would want to commemorate its century-spanning journey. For the Cruise 2026 collection, Gucci’s creative team got down to the roots, presenting at the House’s historic Archive in Palazzo Settimanni in Florence. Fans of the iconic Italian house know the majestic city holds special significance in that it is where Guccio Gucci founded the brand back in 1921.
“The influence of the archive and the rich history of Florence itself has been assimilated into a playful mélange, ranging from the minimal to the maximal,” reads an official press release. “Here, fashion decades are traversed and patch-worked, while the material culture of centuries is integrated — after all, since the Middle Ages, Florence has been a powerhouse of fabric production.”
With nostalgia top of mind, the celebratory collection took flight around the spacious venue, with glimmering, colorful, skin-baring designs harkening back to bygone eras of disco, dancing, and high-glam fashion. The Y2K bubble that has steadily grown these past few years has been poised to burst for some time, and it seems Gucci may be calling for a new era to take its crown. Indeed, 1970s flair was in full effect, from the plunging sequins lace mermaid gowns to the feather-sleeved sheer shifts and marshmallowy cropped coats reminiscent of groovy shag carpeting.
The time warp extended to accessories, with oversized aviator sunglasses set against translucent orange lenses and bulbous gold statement earrings signaling a possible end to thin and dainty jewelry — for the next year, at least.
All manner of leg-emphasizing attire will be en vogue next year as evidenced by the knee-grazing pencil skirts and even the fitted, high-waisted cigarette pants set in lush crushed velvets, elongating stems for miles. The high, exaggerated neck lines and embellishments seen across Fall/Winter 2025 runways this past February were in full force.
A sort of librarian-inspired pussybow silk blouse was a through line for Gucci’s Cruise, featuring subtle jacquard print in candy colors of bubblegum, cerulean, and cherry. “A silhouette with a strongly structured shoulder, exaggerated and oversized, is also lean, long, and sinuous, slipping from day to night,” explains the official press release. The voluminous tops were offset with slimmer skirts and trousers, and topped off with sexy pointed-toe pumps. So chic.
Ahead, see the time-traveling Cruise collection in all its glory.