Backstage, preshow, Gaia Trussardi titillated expectation by saying that the collection was an imaginary assemblage of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”: “The way Dolly Parton says it is that she doesn’t hate her, but she begs her not to take her man. So I understand it that she is so charismatic that she cannot be hated, or create envy—she could look like she could be a bitch, but she’s not.”
Oof! What a great starting point: totally unconscious, total desirability, via the costar of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. And there were some looks here that hit that aim-high sweet spot. The whale cord coats at the top and the needlecord suits at the climax, the Annie Hall–homaging menswear mix looks near the start, the needle-punch leather/Prince of Wales cape over paper-bag bouclé check shorts, and the vaguely prairie leather skirts worn with oversize sweaters were all fine and dandy—casually man-attracting without a whiff of vamp. The double-breasted Bordeaux-check wide-leg suit and wide-piped (with leather) wide-lapel notch greatcoats hit the spot, too.
The main event of this collection, high-cut pants and low-hemmed jackets with overt boning, were a bit by the by. The riotous surplus of buttons was fun and the audacious apricot shearling was something to grapple with, as well.
At the end, though, came a pastel problem. Sheer lavender skirts and—oh, no—a lavender croc hot-pant suit would both only steal your man if he was, frankly, far better off stolen. Gaia T has got an eye, but it needs a wider perspective to seduce internationally.
