GUCCI introduces DEMETRA: A new groundbreaking luxury material

Made In Italy luxury material for an evolving world
First Gucci products made with Demetra material available now
Gucci to offer Demetra material as open innovation to the fashion industry

Today, Gucci presented Demetra 1: a new groundbreaking luxury material that combines quality, softness, durability, and scalability with an eco-friendly ethos. Demonstrating the versatility of the material, three sneakermodels have been introduced to mark Gucci’s first products made with Demetra.

Born from Gucci’s desire to explore and innovate materials for the future, Demetra is the culmination of two years of research and development by Gucci’s own technicians and artisans. Produced entirely in Italy in Gucci’s factory, the new material is created using the same expertise and processes for tanning thereby achieving characteristics that give Demetra a distinctive, pliable and resilient performance, with a supple and luxurious finish.

The eco-innovation behind Demetra combines efficient processes with animal-free raw materials that are primarily from sustainable, renewable, and biobased sources.

“In our 100th anniversary year, Demetra is a new category of material that encapsulates Gucci’s quality and aesthetic standards with our desire to innovate, leveraging our traditional skills and know-how to create for an evolving future,” said Marco Bizzarri, President and CEO of Gucci. “Demetra offers our industry aneasily scalable, alternative choice and a more sustainable material that also answers the needs of animal-free solutions.”

As a versatile, more sustainable new material, Demetra is suitable for a wide range of product categories. Unlike the majority of new materials being developed there are no impediments to scalability or limitations on volume, which often is a challenge for brands searching for scale and quantity.

In the spirit of open innovation, Gucci will also make Demetra available to the fashion industry as a new material source that can be customized to offer exclusive finishing, further facilitating application and differentiation. Meanwhile, as a next step to support a circular economy, Demetra scraps during manufacturing will be upcycled and reused by Gucci through an extension of its Gucci-Up program.

The Gucci Basket, Gucci New Aceand Gucci Rhyton sneakers are the first Gucci products made with Demetra, including the majority of the upper and part of the linings. They are animal-free and other components contain organic cotton, recycled steel, and recycled polyester. The Gucci New Ace and Gucci Rhyton models are available in Gucci stores and online now, and the Gucci Basket from 18 June 2021. Further sneaker models and other product categories using Demetra will follow soon.

About Gucci

Founded in Florence in 1921, Gucciis one of the world’s leading luxury fashion brands.As the House marks its 100th Anniversary under the Creative Direction of Alessandro Michele, with Marco Bizzarri as President and Chief Executive, Gucci moves forward into the coming decades with an ongoing commitmentin redefining luxury, while celebrating the creativity, innovation and Italian craftsmanship at the core of its values.Gucci is part of the global luxury group Kering, which manages the development of a series of renowned Mai-sons in fashion, leather goods, jewelry, and watches.

About Gucci Equilibrium

Gucci Equilibrium is our commitment to generate positive change for people and our planet. Powered by cre-ativity and collaboration, we are reducing our environmental impact and protecting nature, while also priori-tizing inclusivity and respect, so that everyone in our global Gucci community is free to express their authen-tic, diverse selves. As we celebrateour 100th anniversary, we are moving forward into the coming decades with an ongoing commitment to reinforce our culture of purpose, demonstrating our values through innova-tive pathways towards social and environmental sustainability. Gucci Equilibrium unifies the principles we uphold and the actions we pursue to treat our world and each other better, for our collective future.