Anybody who expected a quiet, classic collection of neutrals in the vein of Frida Giannini's Fall show got a jolt when the first model walked out in an orange blazer, violet tube top, green pants, and gold python belt, her hair slicked and her lips a glossy red. Glamour is back at Gucci, and it looked right at home. "I pushed the accelerator on the provocation," the designer said afterward, crediting the late-seventies photographs of Guy Bourdin, David Bailey, and Chris von Wangenheim for the bold color palette. The program notes added Marakkech to her list of inspirations, which inevitably meant that Yves Saint Laurent was in the air as well.
Whether it was color-blocking or Berber accents, the fab factor was dialed way, way up. A dip-to-the-navel turquoise, jade, and black jumpsuit was as louche as they come; likewise, the asymmetrical wrapped bodices of vibrant dresses that exposed flashes of bare midriff and rib. Giannini's girls wore a safari jacket in softest suede, a fitted linen riding jacket heavily embroidered and studded around the armholes, or a T-shirt cover-up in openwork crochet—nothing plain Jane about these glamazons. Leathers were densely laced and dotted with gold hardware or fringed to the hilt (a bona fide Spring trend that began at Tom Ford, as you might recall had he not been so stingy with his collection photos). Below the waist at Gucci? Leather drop-crotch harem pants, naturally, and spiky sandals that showed off a red pedicure to match the models' lips.
Evening was similarly split: a trio of genie jumpsuits in what looked like black silk jersey with gold accents on the one hand, and on the other, jewel-tone, vaguely tribal get-your-party-on dresses. These were so ornately embellished with metal, feathers, and beads that they shimmered like candy wrappers. In other words, girls looking to get in on Spring's 1970's action (and there's a lot out there—holla, Marc Jacobs!) will find options to spare from Giannini.
