Article Summary: The Gucci Primavera campaign is Demna's first advertisement for the house, and the casting is the message. Jin, Ningning, Xiao Zhan, Shawn Mendes, Tom Brady, Alex Consani, Rico Nasty and more appear across ten portraits by Michal Chelbin. Here is what the lineup reveals about Gucci's next five years.
Ten people. Four continents. One of them won seven Super Bowls, and one of them is in BTS. Demna’s first Gucci campaign is not trying to be coherent — it is trying to be everywhere at once.
Gucci released the Primavera campaign on Tuesday, August 25, 2026. It is Demna’s first campaign for his debut collection, shown in Milan in February. Michal Chelbin photographed ten talents, including Jin, Ningning, Xiao Zhan, Tom Brady, Shawn Mendes, Alex Consani, Rico Nasty, EsDeeKid, Lee Young Ae and Tarzzan.
Who Is in the Gucci Primavera Campaign?
Three global brand ambassadors anchor it. Xiao Zhan, Jin, and Ningning all appear, and all three already hold formal Gucci contracts.
Then the range widens sharply. Tom Brady represents American sport. Shawn Mendes brings mainstream pop, while Rico Nasty and EsDeeKid supply rap from either side of the Atlantic.
Fashion is represented too. Alex Consani serves as the campaign’s model, alongside South Korean model, rapper, and dancer Tarzzan.
Lee Young Ae completes it. The South Korean actress carries a prestige register that none of the younger names can, which is precisely why she is there.
WWD reported the full lineup alongside Chelbin’s images. Notably, ten talents is a large cast even by contemporary standards.
Demna Built It Like a Music Video
The format is the idea. Demna told WWD he wanted the campaign “conceived as a music video,” built around emotional awakening and choosing to feel love again.
He framed the house’s role in similar terms. Gucci, he said, should read as the force reminding people that beauty is worth the risk.
That brief explains the casting logic. A music video does not need a single protagonist; instead, it needs a sequence of faces, each holding attention for a few seconds.
Chelbin was a deliberate choice as well. The Israeli photographer built her reputation on formal, unsettling portraiture rather than glossy fashion imagery.
Consequently, the campaign reads as a series of character studies. Demna Gucci’s output has consistently favored that approach over conventional product photography.
The Casting Is a Map of Gucci’s Markets
Follow the passports and the strategy becomes obvious. Three of the ten are South Korean, and one is Chinese.
That weighting is not sentimental. Asia remains the decisive region for luxury growth, and Xiao Zhan’s Gucci ambassador announcements have historically moved product across mainland China within hours.
Korean casting works differently again. The Jin Gucci campaign imagery reaches a global, instant fanbase in numbers that traditional media buys can’t match. Ningning Gucci placement extends that reach into aespa’s separate audience.
America gets sport rather than film. Tom Brady Gucci casting targets a demographic luxury houses have historically struggled to reach — older, wealthier, largely male, and almost entirely outside fashion media.
Europe gets the model. Alex Consani’s rise as a Gen Z supermodel has run in parallel with Demna’s own move to Gucci, and she carries the fashion-industry credibility the athletes do not.
This Is the Collection’s Second Chance
The clothes have been public since February, and the reception was divided. Demna presented Gucci Fall 2026 at Palazzo Delle Scintille in Milan on February 27, among marble statuary staged like a Roman theatre.
His reference was Botticelli’s Primavera, seen at the Uffizi in Florence. WWD’s review recorded his framing: “above the product, Gucci is culture.”
Critics split on whether the body-conscious silhouettes delivered on that ambition. Meanwhile, Kering chief executive Luca de Meo publicly backed the direction before the show, arguing the house needed reviving.
A campaign resets that conversation. Six months later, the same collection arrives without the runway’s critical frame attached, and with ten recognizable faces instead.
The timing also builds toward his next act, following the Cruise 2027 takeover of Times Square.
What Comes Next
Milan Fashion Week arrives next month. Demna’s second ready-to-wear collection will be judged against whether Primavera actually moved product, not against its reviews.
Watch the regional rollout closely. Luxury fashion campaigns in 2026 increasingly run market-specific edits, and Korean and Chinese assets will likely lead in their respective territories.
The real measure is sell-through. Ten ambassadors is an expensive proposition, and Kering will want the numbers to justify it before the next campaign is commissioned. Follow the houses and campaigns shaping the season with our fashion designers’ coverage at Runway Magazine.
