- Gucci has launched its Summer 2026 campaign, Gucci Monte Carlo, shot in Monaco by photographer Mark Seliger, featuring models Amelia Gray and Anok Yai alongside a wider ensemble cast.
- Both Gray and Yai are returning faces under Creative Director Demna, confirming their status as the house's go-to muses since his 2025 appointment.
- The campaign spotlights Gucci's heritage Flora motif, now marking its 60th anniversary, alongside key handbag styles including the Jackie, Gossip, Madison, and Melrose.
- Gray recently landed a YSL Beauty ambassadorship and a SKIMS campaign; Yai was named to TIME's 2026 100 Most Influential list and won the BFC's 2025 Model of the Year.
Gucci is setting summer 2026 against the backdrop of Monte Carlo, and it brought its most reliable faces along for the ride. The campaign, shot on pools and open water in Monaco, features a cast including Tian Xi Wei, Amelia Gray, Anok Yai, and several others.
Gray and Yai make their return as Demna’s muses, though make no mistake, the real heroes of the campaign are the handbags.
Key accessories include the Jackie, Venice, and Gossip bags, with the Madison and Melrose moving from day into evening. The house’s Flora motif, which turns 60 this year, threads throughout the imagery.
This is a busy season for both stars away from the campaign. Gray landed a SKIMS campaign in May 2026 and was named a YSL Beauty ambassador in March, also walking Gucci’s F/W 26 runway.
Meanwhile, Anok Yai was recognized as the Fashion Awards’ Model of the Year and named to TIME’s 2026 list of 100 most influential people.
This isn’t Gucci’s first high-profile campaign pairing of the year. Just months ago, the house made headlines when Emily Ratajkowski and Kate Moss fronted the Gucci Giglio Borsetto campaign, and K-pop star Ningning starred in Gucci’s Beauty and the Bag global campaign.
Takeaways
Gucci under Demna is rapidly developing a recurring cast of muses, and that’s deliberate. Gray and Yai aren’t just faces; they’re becoming brand pillars in what looks like an intentional strategy to build long-term visual consistency across campaigns.
The Monte Carlo setting also signals a pivot toward aspirational escapism, a direct counter to the streetwear-heavy aesthetic that defined Demna’s Balenciaga era.
With the Flora motif’s 60th anniversary woven in, Demna is simultaneously honoring heritage and reframing it through a younger, globe-trotting lens. The real business play here? The bags.
Every campaign element (cast, location, mood) is engineered to sell the Jackie, Gossip, and Madison as the accessories of the summer.
With Gray and Yai now appearing in multiple Gucci campaigns, are they being positioned as the official faces of Demna’s Gucci era? Does the Monte Carlo setting represent a deliberate shift away from Demna’s deconstructivist roots toward a more classical luxury aesthetic?
