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Despite its divisive nature, GCDS — the Italian brand known for its light-hearted, cartoon-like take on fashion — is making money. Revenues hit €25 million last year, up 20 per cent on 2022, and continue to grow, says co-founder and creative director Giuliano Calza.
Calza launched the tongue-in-cheek brand with his brother Giordano in 2016 (the name was originally an acronym for “God Can’t Destroy Streetwear”, but now the company prefers “Giuliano Calza Design Studio”). Over the years, its logo-driven streetwear has been evolving into what the designer calls more “sartorial” pieces, including its bestselling Morso heels, where the heels look like open monster teeth, retailing for up to $905 on its site.
In 2020, the Made in Italy Fund, a joint venture between management firm Quadrivio Group and communications agency Pambianco, acquired a majority stake in GCDS for an undisclosed amount. Giuliano remains creative director and Giordano CEO. Since, the brand has expanded in Asia, its leading market, with fun, toy-inspired accessories and outerwear (previous collections have riffed on Spongebob and Hello Kitty; the latter will reappear this time), while scaling its DTC business in the US.
We speak in the brand’s large studio in the Southeast Milan, a day before the Autumn/Winter 2024 show. A 55-strong team is working away upstairs; there’s also an office in Asia with a smaller workforce. Here, in Milan, Calza tells Vogue Business how he became a serious player.
Vogue: It’s the day before your show, what can we expect?
This show is the first that’s styled by a different stylist, Carine Roitfeld, whom I’ve always been insanely obsessed with. And the show starts from some spiky comments that I had from some magazines, saying ‘one day you’re going to grow up.’ I was like, ‘what?’ For me, the show is asking the question, why can I not be taken seriously and be entertaining? So everyone is expecting this Kawaii, cute, pink world that they’re used to, with toys and Bratz and Mattel. Instead, it’s quite grown up, the palette is darker, and there’s childlike elements hidden in grown-up organza or under dresses. I call this show ‘toys for adults’.
Vogue: You’ve built a €25 million brand in seven years. How did you get started?
I had a political sciences degree, and when I was 20 I moved to Shanghai (from his native Naples) and learnt Chinese. I love China. I was studying, doing double jobs, working in a club at night and hosting at a restaurant. When I came back, I got a scholarship to Bocconi, ‘Italy’s Ivy League’, to study marketing and communication. I got so many big job offers from brands like L’Oréal. But I wanted to work at Blumarine, so I worked in PR there for a year. Then I moved back to China for three years.
At one point, someone I was working with (he won’t say who) said: ‘I’m going to give you whatever you need to design clothes and this is going to be your start in fashion.’ I made a hundred sweaters and a hundred pairs of socks, the logo ones that are still our bestsellers today. I came back to Milan, sofa surfing, taking little modelling jobs, trying to build the brand. Then in 2016, I got into a famous Italian showroom and we did half a million euros in sales in our first season. My brother, who was living in China at the time, said I was going to go bankrupt because I had no financial structure; I was using the money from one order to pay to make the next. So he came back and we launched GCDS as a family business.
Vogue: It’s a difficult time for many fashion brands. How is business?
People are becoming more and more obsessed with GCDS and it keeps growing, which is rare today. We grew 20 per cent last year. I’m very lucky to ride a wave in which my creativity is driving my company. Celebrities are wearing it, we’re getting so many editorials. We’re growing in the US and in Asia. And I think editorials are really important to create a fantasy.
Of course, in 2019, I sold the company. In a way it’s the same pressure, maybe even more, but you have the idea that if something is going to happen, you have someone that can back you up. I’m not a finance person, so it’s good to have that support now, to allow me to focus on the creativity. In fashion, I believe you have to cash in and cash out.
Vogue: Your brand started out very logo and streetwear driven. But times have changed. How have you adapted?
We started at the right moment, in the right light. It was 2016 and celebrities started wearing the logo sweater because it was the moment of streetwear. Virgil [Abloh] was opening doors for everyone. Now, streetwear has shifted. It’s become merchandising at every brand. If you go to Celine, if you go to Saint Laurent, if you go to Prada, it’s always a logo T-shirt, logo wallet. But you have to remember, it’s the fashion and the creativity that drives the company and the sales of the merchandise.
Vogue: Where are you selling GCDS?
My experience in China helped me understand that market. So today, Asia is my biggest market for wholesale. This year we are opening two stores in Korea, and we are opening in Bangkok, Thailand. We are opening in [duty-free shopping centre] Sanya in Hainan, China. I have an obsession with toys and everything that is fun, and Asia is really following this.
On the other hand, 40 per cent of our DTC e-commerce orders are from the US. It’s incredible to see how different the different markets are. For example, Europe is very used to the ‘old’ GCDS. They wanna buy logo sweaters, they wanna buy a T-shirt. They wanna buy a mini dress. America has ‘money’. OK? They’re buying boots, shoes, bags, the most expensive things. And they’re buying them online. Some of the shoes are over $1,000, as we make everything in Italy. Our bestselling shoes are the Morso shoes, the ones with the teeth. No one believed in those shoes but I’m glad I did, America loves them. Nicki Minaj’s stylist just bought three pairs!
Vogue: How do you balance that commercial success with creativity?
Right now, I’m standing between an ego trip of ‘I want to be creative and do what I want’ and the fact I have to pay people in the building. It’s hard because of the industry that we are in today. I’m talking about retailers. I’m talking about investors. It’s all about commerce. The store wants to make money. If you don’t make money, you’re not a success.
I have a close relationship with the people who buy GCDS. They write to me and say, ‘I remember your Pikachu boots, please put them in production again.’ On the other side, there’s this idea of pushing you to do a white tank top that is good for everyone. Everyone is going to buy it. I’m selling and balancing both — but it’s hard.
Vogue: What’s the biggest challenge of running a brand?
I think at some point you have to learn how to keep a distance from the people working for you. I had a shoe designer that I called my ‘Horcrux’, like in Harry Potter, because she was here from the beginning. Then she moved to London after seven years, that was hard. Sometimes I feel like the genie in the lamp, as I’m the only one who has to stay here forever, in a way.
Vogue: After the AW24 show, what’s next?
I have already planned the next show, I showed the team the inspiration yesterday. I’m a creative. Once the show is done, it doesn’t belong to me anymore. On to the next.
We have a collaboration with Universal, which we teased at the show; we’ve made a GCDS Polly Pocket. It will feature on some bags in the show, but in 2025, we are launching a real Polly Pocket game in toy stores.
I’m allowing myself to do more customs with the celebrities I like. And I’m really excited to go back to Asia this year. I haven’t been to China since the pandemic. We’re planning a full tour of all our [350-plus] stores and stockists across China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan and Korea. And finally, we will go to America. I showed at New York Fashion Week five years ago, for my second show, when we had no money. I’d love to go back and do a massive show.
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