Milan Fashion Week – Gucci

Gucci is one of those famed houses, whether it’s the signature double G monogram, or the whole jet set feel of the brand. Ever since Tom Ford left Gucci (is it even relevant to mention him anymore?) all those seasons ago, Frida Giannini has had her own go at bringing the house in a new direction. No longer is it about “sex on stiletto’s” as one fashion journalist put it, instead Frida’s designs are more feminine and subtly sexy, whilst retaining Gucci’s jet set image. We here at Feigned Perfection enjoy her shows season on season, whether she decides to delve into the archives, or not. This season Gucci hit many of the trends, full 1950’s skirts (even 1950’s cropped leather jackets that could well have come straight out of Grease Lightning (is that a good or a bad thing?)), peep-toed booties, and the goddess off-the shoulder silhouette. The collection wasn’t much appreciated by the fashion press this season and whilst the show might not have been as stellar as it could have been we reckon it had many pieces throughout that were definitely worthy of their inevitably high-price tags.

One of Frida’s strong points throughout all her collections are her use of graphic prints and almost every look contained a print in one form or other. Our favourite looks of the show were the cropped jackets combined with full yet short skirts in multiple colours and materials. From patent black and abstract flowers…

To bright yellow and brought in at the waist with a particularly nice wide belt…

Then there were the bubble gum pinks (a colour I’m not too fond of but combined with the hard edged patent leathers and blacks that old cutesy feeling traditionally felt when seeing anything in this shade of pink disappears)

Actually isn’t this patent pink jacket quite lovely, especially with the contrasting trims and that great skirt that will look great with a whole multitude of items. Worth noting about these jackets is that those arms seem to be ultra thin, maybe when they retail (i.e. now) the arms won’t be so thin.

And then Frida showed us her more masculine side of Gucci, the lady loves fitted shirts; with this check with fitted pencil skirt and high sheen jacket, very biker chick chic.

And then the Frida trousers came out…

Whilst we may not recommend those hot pink versions for everyone, the following black ones are quite becoming and would be equally good for work wear.

Although this top might not be too good for the office it shows the versatility of the look to go from day to evening.

Frida also showed us some very nice day dresses that combined both sculptural and graphic elements as in this strapless number

Or this goddess silhouette with sunflower print (I believe M&S has a much cheaper (and not as well done) version)

The print on this dress reminds us of some of De Kooning’s works, although in practice we feel that the print is a little overwhelming for the rest of the look.

Gucci’s staple eveningwear seemed much heavier then usual but also quite sculptural as in this floor length black dress with suede wide belt.

But our favourite eveningwear gown was Lily Donaldson’s final look. Now we can’t think of too many occasions where this dress would be suitable but it would certainly stand out in quite a subtle way.

If there is one thing you can learn from this collection it’s that if you want to look like you are part of the international jet set, you better head down to Gucci for some staple wardrobe pieces.