Gucci wows with dazzling styles, exciting events
MILAN — Welcome to the Gucci moment.
A renovated shop, a new collection and the inauguration of a private museum all combine to make Gucci the talk of the town as designers prepare to unveil their warm weather wear during the current Milan womenswear fashion week.
Frida Giannini, creative designer for Gucci, had the honor of opening the shows Wednesday with a spring-summer 2012 collection that was as modern as it was retro.
Sequined flapper dresses complete with fluttering fringes shared the runway with cropped jackets and high-waisted slim-fitting pants that were at the same time minimalist and masculine. Old-fashioned motifs gleaned from the Gucci archives, from animal prints to tiger heads and the trademark horse, were given a contemporary twist by using modern graphics including a 3-D effect and high-tech fabrics and stitching.
In her show notes, the designer said she wanted to fuse “elements from our DNA, from design history, from photography, and make them current with a strong sense of personality.”
The overall effect is of a woman who knows what she wants.
The bold sequined styles in black, white and antique gold, decorated with opulent jewel details are definitely not for the wallflower, especially when combined with high-heeled gilded footwear. Enamel tiger heads on the new clutch bag and sparkling belt buckles resembling brooches complete the look.
Inspiration for the collection came from art deco of the 1920s, the designer said, and yet the collection also has a 1960s feel, with it’s heavy embroidery, cropped jackets, pencil pants and low-waisted dresses. Fashion history however tends to repeat itself, and at the time the look harked back to the flapper era.
Later Wednesday, Giannini will host a cocktail opening of the completely renovated flagship store on Milan’s fashionable via Montenapoleone. Here, too, old meets new with super modern television technology sharing the space with craftsmen giving live demonstrations of the age-old techniques that go into making Gucci’s luxury leather goods.
Next week in Florence, birthplace of the Gucci label in 1921 when Guccio Gucci opened a small handcrafted leather goods shop, the label is planning a gala event to inaugurate a museum in the historic Piazza della Signoria dedicated to the brand.