NYT: Gucci: Somewhere in North Africa

September 22, 2010, 1:33 pm
By CATHY HORYN

Antonio Calanni/Associated Press The runway at the Spring 2011 Gucci show in Milan.
Merely as an exercise, I was trying to think this evening of a tweet-size summary of the Alberta Ferretti show, because I was pretty sure that if I wrote down peasant blouses, faded floral tiered skirts, long-sleeved linen dresses with white crochet trim, and floppy hats and rope sandals, you might get the wrong idea — that it was corny or something. But I guess I kept coming back to Nantucket in the summer of 1974 or ‘75 (I had my driver’s license). I was driving into town early one morning and I stopped to pick up a young couple hitchhiking on the Milestone Road. They had just been married on the beach, and the bride was wearing a dress with white crochet.

I like shows that make you think of something personal, because a lot of the time there isn’t much more you want to say about the clothes, and if they can evoke a place, then I figure they will do the same for someone else. What more do you want from chiffon?

Frida Giannini said in her press notes for Wednesday’s Gucci show that the “sensual colors” were meant to recall Marrakesh. But frankly, I didn’t see that. I think it’s pretty tough to evoke North Africa, or the American West, or Paris in the ’20s, without ending up with a big ball of khaki, or denim, or Lady Brett Ashley resting her head on poor Jake’s shoulder. Fashion just exploits everything, and you wind up with the YouTube version of a pair of Sahara pants.

One thing, though, that was puzzling about Ms. Giannini’s collection (oh, it was fine in the main) was that she seemed to have three separate shows in one. The opening part consisted of filmy black blouses with half-open backs worn with high-waist tulip skirts in deep purple, jade or iris blue. The outfits were nice but you wouldn’t cry over them. Then she was clearly somewhere in North Africa, with those beautiful leather Gucci jackets and soupy harem trousers we have seen enough of this year. Some of the jackets had sections thickly coated in fringe. The third mood was more exotic, with five dresses embroidered with feathers and beads; the patterns and textures evoked a standard African tribal motif as seen by Hollywood. And so we are back to the beginning.

It’s warm in Milan; amber light and voices outside my window.

See the full Gucci spring collection.

See the full Alberta Ferretti spring collection.