Frida Giannini's faith in male vanity produced one of her strongest men's collections to date, its inspiration the British gentleman's club, a monument to said vanity. Except Frida's club was populated not by fusty old lords but by thin white dukes, narcissistic pop aristos like Robert Pattinson. And she gave them the perfect wardrobe, just the right mix of reassuring classic and casual edge.
The most classic elements were the jackets—sharply tailored in houndstooth, pied-de-poule, and Prince of Wales checks, and paired with slim black trousers that snapped at the ankle. That last detail spoke volumes.
Giannini has fine-tuned the all-important Gucci attitude. It's dressy without being demanding. As sartorial as those blazers were, they were shown with collarless shirts or worn without ties. And as slim as the dominant silhouette was, Giannini balanced it with a three-pleated pant and generous knits.
But the real stars of this collection were the skins—in tones from ice-pale to aubergine—and the outerwear. Giannini remodeled waterproofs as a safari jacket, a Prince of Wales raincoat, and a black-trimmed trench in a brick red shade. She used the thermosealing that is usually inside a mackintosh as a graphic element on the outside of a micro-checked parka or a color-blocked caban.
If there was something mod about that, it carried over into Giannini's monochrome eveningwear. A grosgrain jacket paired with black-and-white plaid pants in sheeny silk faille would be the ideal after-dark garb for a sleek young creature of the night.
