GUCCI Fall 2011 RTW Collection from the runways of 2011 New York Fashion Week. ELLE.com is your source for spring fashion coverage.
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| Gucci Fall 2011 |
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| Gucci Fall 2011 |
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| Gucci Fall 2011 |
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| Gucci Fall 2011 |
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| Gucci Fall 2011 |
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| Gucci Fall 2011 |
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| Gucci Fall 2011 |
Gucci Fall 2011
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| Gucci Fall 2011 |
fashion runway show complete collections.Gucci Fall 2011
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| Gucci Fall 2011 |
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| Gucci Fall 2011 |
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| Gucci Fall 2011 |
Gucci fall 2011 collection . The spirit of the '70s does not leave the trendy new Olympus and lukbuk Italian fashion house that acknowledgment. Wide-brimmed hats, elegant coats, form-fitting jackets with a thin belt, slacks on the floor, luxurious dresses, fur jackets and vests in tandem with luxurious accessories will satisfy not One -Woman Fashion .
Before Gucci's 90th anniversary show today, Frida Giannini cited a pair of influences: Anjelica Huston, as lensed by the photographer Bob Richardson, and Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine. That first reference point meant we were back in the 1970's again. Giannini's girls have traded in last season's harem pants, macramé moto jackets, and lean jumpsuits for culottes, pussy-bow blouses topped by snug sweater vests or velvet blazers, and shirtwaist dresses. Many of them wore fedoras with feathers in the brim, and some sported both a shoulder bag (an elongated version of the Jackie) and a mini top-handle frame bag. If that sounds like Giannini had pared down the glamour quotient, think again. There was fur and python and patent leather galore. The lattermost came in a sexy-as-all-get-out slim black pencil skirt worn with a silver fox chubby. What was most notable about the furs and pythons was their eye-opening colors, and the designer gave full rein to her penchant for mixing unexpected hues together in one outfit: Take the ocher coat with Mongolian lamb trim worn with a scarlet blouse and a bordeaux hat, or the amber python jacket with rust-colored fur collar that topped a lavender shirt and violet cardigan.
For evening, Giannini went long, cutting draped gowns in as much as 35 meters of chiffon. Don't think for an instant, though, that these were covered up. On the contrary, they dipped down to the navel and came slit up to the hips. Sure, there was a long-sleeved version, but it was as sheer as the others; the model's matching briefs were on full view. Here, the designer skipped the fur in favor of shrugs or scarves or jackets whipped up from hand-dyed silk flowers.
Backstage, Giannini said the long dresses were the Florence Welch part of the equation, explaining that she could picture the chanteuse rocking one of them on stage. But they wouldn't have looked out of place on Anjelica circa 1970-something, either. The seventies are understandably dear to both the Gucci brand and its creative director, though coming off a Spring season where so many designers were indebted to the decade, that meant this collection lacked the shock of the new. Still, you can't fault the luxe factor of today's show or the fact that there was so much wantable, wearable fashion on the runway, that fab patent skirt not least of all. Gucci opened Milan Fashion Week with a fall 2011 showing which surprisingly stayed in the same vein as pre-fall’s glam seventies collection. Adding to that base, Gucci designer Frida Giannini took on jewel toned hues of turquoise and fuchsia with fur accents and sheer floor-length gowns. Models strutted down the runway with oversize hats, dark shades, plum lips and tailored jackets for one sexy and strong outing. Welcome to hippie chic done Gucci-style. Of course, we’ve been here before—the seventies are nothing if not an evergreen theme for the house. But there is a remarkable staying power to the allure of a flared trouser or silk blouse with a deep, deep, deep V-neck. And there were plenty in this sensual collection: fluid trousers in white, green, and violet; bow blouses in teal, magenta, and blood orange. Almost always, everything was topped off with a brightly colored fur, or many brightly colored furs. There were fur jackets, fur boleros, fur collars, and fur vests, again in every shade imaginable. Ecstatic extravagance.The embodiment of this woman, this sensual free thinker in the wide-brimmed fedora (yes, there were lots of those, too), is, according to Giannini, Florence Welch, the lead singer of Florence + the Machine, who has a strong stage presence and an even stronger set of pipes. When Welch is performing, she wears the kind of languid, glamorous clothing Giannini presented today (albeit presumably vintage). “She influenced me in this kind of lightness and the colors, her red hair and her energy,” Giannini said backstage after the show.
One would imagine that the designer might also have been thinking of Hollywood starlets, because several of her dresses looked destined for Sunday’s Academy Awards red carpet. They were colorful, sheer, and totally foxy, with a slit nearly up to the waist. But when we say sheer, we mean sheer. Which is fine for a model on a catwalk in front of seen-it-all editors. It’s a bit different for a 20-something movie star with the fashion police hot on her trail. Even lined, the look will be a bit tricky.The top is slashed as far as the navel and arms and shoulders are left bare, while legs are exposed and their shape defined with super-high heels.
Both Gucci styles were contrasted with fur trim and daring use of crocodile and lizard skin.
"For the autumn winter 2011-2012 season, the Gucci woman dresses with a cinematic allure and a strong seductive power," designer Frida Giannini said.
Much of the collection was based on styles from the 1970's, fused with a dash of the 1940's demeanor. This was clear from the bell-bottomed cut of the trousers and pant-skirts flaring out above knee-length leather boots.
For the daytime collection, rustic colors were those of choice. Forest greens, teal, deep burgundy, lilac and winter orange all play a role in contrast to the ubiquitous black and gray.
In the nighttime collection more colors are added to underscore the playful nature of the outfit. Lemon yellow, deep red and light green gives the Gucci woman the appearance of someone who wants to forget the harsh winter weather when she steps inside a restaurant, bar or nightclub.
"This is a contemporary female dandy who fuses glamor and seduction," Giannini said. "She is a polished woman with a decisive personality, who is attentive to detail and willing to dare."
A strong powerful side to the Gucci woman is brought through with the use of leather biker jackets, paired with overlarge sunglasses that sets off the image of a woman who knows her own destiny and how she wants to get there.
The handbags are small and subtle. They complement, rather than dominate, the outfit and their block colors and contrasting piping set off the look tastefully.
All bear the ever-present double GG buckle, the initials of Guccio Gucci who founded the company 90 years ago this year.
Gucci Fall 2011
