Frida Giannini rocked on, once again taking inspiration from the music world. This time, the graphic look of Eighties’ New Wave swept the clutter from the runway and kept the focus on Giannini’s young and energetic collection. She referenced the period liberally, and glamorized it with Lurex and other synthetic fabrics. The ultra-slim tailored looks that opened the show were cut from gray jacquards, and punched up by shirts and ties in vivid hues or black & white patterns. Dots, stripes and geometric patterns appeared throughout the collection, paying homage to the design style of Ettore Sottsass’ Memphis Group. Short jackets, such as a cropped peacoat or a wool motorcycle jacket, and thin, leopard spotted sweaters, rounded out the daytime offering. The boxy shapes of the jackets balanced the narrowness of the pants, which verged on leggings. For night, Giannini poured on the luster, as this Gucci man clearly frequents more clubs than gala dinners in his metallic jeans. A transparent sweater was proposed as an evening shirt, and the tuxedo pants were mere leggings trimmed with satin and worn with gleaming, pointed shoes. The only remnant of recent hyper-embellishment was the continuation of large studs on the bags, but these were black rubber instead of metal. A logo-patterned tote was rendered in PVC and cloth, which should lower the opening price point for a Gucci bag, although there was plenty of leather and pony at the high end as well. For the most overt luxury, Gucci showed its signature shaggy fur coats, but one of these was in fact alpaca. Although the collection was subdued by Gucci standards, Giannini managed to express the brand’s point of view with pizzazz and color, in a season largely lacking both.
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