Gucci Taps New Rap Talent
Gucci made waves at Milan Fashion Week with creative director Demna enlisting new rap talent including Fakemink, Feng, and Rico Ace to walk the runway. The show's underground theme and integration of rap's fresh faces signals Gucci's ongoing engagement with street culture and youth style.
This creative shift at Gucci follows the departure of Sabato De Sarno, who held the creative director role for two years, from 2023 to 2025. Demna, previously lauded for his decade-long, culture-shifting tenure at Balenciaga, was appointed to lead Gucci in March 2025, with his debut collection signaling a new creative direction for the storied Italian house. Demna's first major move was to bypass established celebrities, instead curating a lineup of rising UK underground rappers for his Fall/Winter 2026 show. The choice to feature artists like Fakemink, Nettspend, Feng, Fimiguerrero, and Rico Ace underscores a deliberate pivot towards authentic, internet-bred subcultures. The show itself was filled with moments that mirrored the artists' unpolished personas. Fakemink, an elusive figure known for avoiding press, made a memorable runway debut by pausing mid-walk to check his phone before continuing. Nettspend also walked the runway, while Feng and Rico Ace were seated front row, alongside other scene figures like EsDeeKid. Gucci's connection with rap is not new, but this marks a turn towards the genre's raw underground rather than its mainstream stars. Historically, the brand has been a hip-hop staple, from being name-dropped in lyrics since the 1980s to its landmark collaboration with Harlem's Dapper Dan, a tailor who originally bootlegged Gucci's logos for hip-hop royalty.
