|
Gucci: Romantic Attic Chic "What I am trying to do is to putsomething poetic into a powerful, iconic brand. I am really inspired bydifferent time periods, and that's something we are missing in fashion,"said Alessandro Michele backstage. This was just before he unleashed hisromantic, girlish look, putting his beating fashion heart into filmy fabrics,flower patterns, coats with a pretty decoration at the back and furry loafersthat you can bet have brought orders texted in to Gucci already.  Picture credit: Indigital The show was an absolute volte-face fromthe streamlined, crisp, urban Gucci of the last decade, when Alessandro wasworking under Frida Giannini. She has now left, and Alessandro convincedFrançois-Henri Pinault, CEO of the Kering luxury group, to give him the chanceof a lifetime. And who wouldn't succumb to this greatromantic? With his dramatic black curls, intense enthusiasm and vision thatencompasses the Renaissance and sweet floral prints, along with the idea of amodern woman who runs to answer her lover at the door wearing a dress that ispart nightgown and part Victorian frock.  Picture credit: Indigital "I love Jane Eyre," said thedesigner, referring to the heroine of Charlotte Brontë's best-known novel. Thisstyle can best be described as "attic chic" hence a tailored, flower-printedjacket with the mark of a fold at the hips, as though the garment had beenlocked in a trunk for half a century. Berets perched on the head suggested ayoung French woman from an earlier era. The show was engaging in its passion andvisual energy. It was not a triumph - that would suggest a more pushy,in-your-face collection, rather than this dream of a gentle woman wearingsemi-sheer dresses, handcrafted knits and back-to-the-Seventies trouser suits,or tops and pleated velvet skirts.  Picture credit: Indigital All were distinguished by appetisingcolours, like a ginger coat with fondant-pink fur cuffs, or a petal-likeasparagus green skirt with a lilac blouse and red flowers in the hair. The clothes - including those for men -stood out as young, logo- and status-free, fitting into the dynamic of HediSlimane's Saint Laurent.  Picture credit: Indigital But is it Gucci? A bag with a Napoleonicbumblebee? Shoes bobbling with fluffy fur baubles? A whiff of the brocade andvelvet from an opulent past? The question is better asked like this:what is Gucci? Is it primarily a leather company that makes clothes (like LouisVuitton)? Is it the hot and sexy look that Tom Ford invented in the Nineties,his heyday now a generation ago? Did Frida Giannini's chic and slick lookbetter catch the essence of Gucci? And above all, are Alessandro's wild,romantic dreams going to stop the fall in Gucci's sales and profits? "We are very excited. Alessandro islike a hidden jewel, he was under the radar," said Marco Bizzarri, Gucci'sCEO, sitting with François-Henri Pinault and his wife Salma Hayek, who wasalready wearing a trouser suit with navy jacket and wine-red pants from the newcollection.  Picture credit: Indigital "Business will grow, but we mustmaintain creativity," Bizzarri continued. "Even big luxury namescannot do something average." I don't know about the finances, but Iwarmed instantly to the new designer, for his passion, his enthusiasm and hisintelligence. It has been a long time since luxury seemedso romantic. Alessandro put his heart in the show, and it showed. (责任编辑：admin) |