Gucci's Very Italian Shearling Coat Is The Final Boss Of Winter 2026

The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) has placed a ban on animal fur starting in September 2026. Many of the February 2026 shows in New York were already fur-free, but if you couldn’t tell, I wouldn’t blame you: Shearling and faux pieces have become ubiquitous. The desire for shaggy, big-boss coats has been in steady demand for a few years now, and the trend-setting girls we love are dead-set on finding a new way to make it their own. The star outerwear piece in the lead right now? Gucci’s ‘80s animal-print shearling coat.

The first person to wear the coat was actually Alex Consani in the brand’s “La Famiglia” collection campaign and accompanying short film, The Tiger, where her mile-long legs were the ideal counterpoint to the short dress-coat style. Dua Lipa was spotted in the same pieces in Paris this week, styling it out with a bag from The Attico, straight-leg blue jeans, and a molto Italiano Bvlgari Serpenti watch (she’s the jewelry house’s latest ambassador). Alix Earle threw caution to the ski-mountain wind in the same coat while in Aspen, wearing nothing on bottom and throwing on a Borsetto bag to hammer home just how Italian it can get.

Demna’s first-ever collection at Gucci, “La Famiglia,” was a postmodern take on Italian archetypes — Consani’s character with the fur coat is called “La Bomba” — that updated classic Milanese takes on fashion with a modern edge. The shearling coat comes with a detachable double-G belt, should you be feeling extra Neapolitan-mob wife, and has exaggerated puffed sleeves and a swooping lapel, ideal for turning up to (try to) avoid paparazzi à la Dua. (It’s also not real fur: The house has not used animal fur since 2017.) It feels like a vintage piece come to life, and the endless styling possibilities are what make it work for the breadth of people they’ve sent it to, including Mariah Carey. The classic light-gray style has been worn by two of our favorite Kims (Petras and Kardashian).

Gucci has made a concerted effort with this launch to sell the world on their Demna-ified take on la dolce vita. It’s largely worked, because the styles are, in true Demna fashion, able to slip in and out of references, wardrobes, and time periods. It’s also not all that expensive — yes, this coat obviously is — but the accessories are competitively priced in the market right now. By putting a $48,000 coat at the object of our desire, Gucci is inviting us into their universe, and us non-paparazzied-people can settle on a fabulous Borsetto bag or pair of oversized sunglasses. The real win is the way Demna’s vision will take over the trend cycle: We’ll be seeing much more of these printed, House Of Gucci-style furs the rest of the winter.