It has been a busy 12 months for Demna, the Georgian fashion designer who took the reins of Italian fashion house Gucci in July 2025 after a ten-year stint as creative director of Balenciaga. In this time, he has drafted Spike Jonze and Halina Reijn to direct The Tiger, a short film starring Oscar-winner Demi Moore, to introduce his first collection; staged a debut runway show amid a monumental marble set reminiscent of Florence’s Uffizi Museum; and hosted a Salone del Mobile installation that reimagined the Gucci story as a series of tapestries. And, earlier this month, he shut down Times Square in New York for a Cruise 2027 show watched by Mariah Carey, Kim Kardashian and Playboi Carti, among others (meanwhile Paris Hilton, Tom Brady and Emily Ratajkowski walked the show).
Today, he continues to shore up his vision of Gucci as a cultural behemoth with the announcement that the house will serve as the primary sponsor of Formula One team Alpine, which currently sits at number five in the overall team standings for the 2026 season (its drivers are Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto). Starting from the 2027 season, Alpine will be known as the ‘Gucci Racing Alpine Formula One Team’ and will compete in Gucci’s signature red, green and gold colours. There will also be a dedicated logo for the partnership (an interlocking double-G with the word ‘Racing’ underneath). According to a statement from Gucci, the collaboration is built on shared values of ‘performance, precision, discipline, and excellence at the intersection of luxury and sport’
Left, Flavio Briatore. Right, Francesca Bellettini
‘This partnership with Alpine Formula One Team writes a new chapter: Gucci becomes the first luxury fashion house to serve as title partner in Formula One,’ says Francesca Bellettini, president and CEO of Gucci. ‘[It] reflects our ambition for the brand and the role we want Gucci to play on this stage. Formula One represents today a unique convergence of performance, culture, and global reach, and Alpine Formula One Team is the right partner to bring this vision to life. Gucci Racing is more than a presence on the grid: it is an expression of who we are and where we want to take the brand. And there is much more to come. We are grateful to Alpine and the entire Renault Group for sharing this ambition with us.’
François Provost, CEO of Renault Group, adds that he hopes the partnership will ‘reach new audiences and young generations’. Flavio Briatore, executive advisor of Alpine Formula One Team, adds: ‘With the improved performance on track, and Alpine having its best-ever points total to start a season, this new collaboration with Gucci shows the growing momentum behind the team.’
It is not Gucci’s first dalliance with sport: both Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka, world number ones in men’s and women’s tennis, respectively, are current global brand ambassadors for Gucci, with both players carrying Gucci bags on court with them before their matches. Prior to the French Open, which began this past weekend, Italy-born Sinner featured in a new campaign from the house, running with the playful tagline ‘The Original Sinner’. ‘Gucci continues its enduring dialogue with the world of tennis through Jannik Sinner, reimagining the sport’s iconography in a playful nod to his name while celebrating an athlete whose distinct approach to the game defines what it means to be an original,’ the house said at the time.