A Ford by any other name
When Tom Ford announced his departure from Gucci last year, industry watchers declared the end of an era defined by his sexy, hedonist aesthetic.
But when Alessandra Facchinetti presented her eagerly anticipated first collection as Gucci’s new head designer on Thursday afternoon, it was vintage Ford: aggressive, confident and, above all, decadent. A stiff cream crocodile bolero jacket was cut low over the bust and close to the waist, and slinky, iridescent cigarette pants had the kind of fit only a female designer can accomplish. Globe-trotting is a big trend for spring, and Facchinetti ventured to India, working in shades of burnished gold, cinnamon, apricot and fuchsia. Shiny stretch skirts scored with Gucci’s familiar anatomical seams traced every curve, and swimsuits were sliced and scooped to show a maximum of flesh.
There wasn’t a “GG” in sight on the oversized studded crocodile hobo bags, or the chunky gold python pumps. And at the end of the show, when the eveningwear came out, instead of Ford’s signature rose petals, silver glitter rained down on the runway. Organza gowns looked remarkably similar to stretched and wrapped styles from past collections. A few suffered from being too complicated, embellished with chunky beading, trailing trains, and clinging to the body by a single short sleeve and thread-like straps across a nude back. Hello, Hollywood Fashion Tape.
If anything, Facchinetti, 32, could be criticized for lacking a vision that is different enough. (She worked as design director under Ford for four years.) But when she emerged onto the runway looking like she was about to be sick, it was clear that she did the best anyone could have under the weight of the fashion world’s expectations.
For the foreseeable future, it will continue to be the Miuccia Prada era. Her dressed-up coats dripping with jewels and fur trim, retro 1950s circle skirts and tie-dye cardigans have defined the ultra-feminine mood for the last few seasons. But now that everyone is following in her pretty footsteps, she’s changing directions for spring, revisiting her ugly-chic roots and making a strong case for casual sportswear.
Behind the runway at Wednesday’s Prada show was a montage of scrambled images that could have been lifted from any 24-hour news channel -- Donald Rumsfeld, Quentin Tarantino, American soldiers and Renaissance statues. With red-tinged eyelids, bleached-out eyebrows and little makeup, the models seemed blissfully numb to the cultural crawl. Prada’s palette was simple (brown, mustard yellow, green, red and purple) and so were her clothes -- color-blocked polo sweaters, ramrod Bermudas in a feathery photo print, pleated schoolgirl skirts with parrot appliques, and a gray chiffon dress with a curved swan’s neck for a halter.
Fall’s “trick” charms morphed into childlike plastic pins shaped like anchors, sailboats and teddy bears. Handbags were forgettable, and the shoes mostly flat -- loafers or multicolor patent leather sandals. The most exotic offerings were tall hats covered in duck feathers, and short skirts, plain in back and sprouting peacock feathers in front. The entire collection seemed to say that a woman’s character should be plumage enough in this mixed-up, media-saturated world.
This new, unfussy approach to dressing may leave some fans disappointed. There was none of the conspicuous glamour or ethnic escapism of recent collections, though those themes have been prevalent elsewhere on the runways here. Then again, Prada has always been a bird of a different feather, and where she goes, the fashion flock usually follows.
Marni’s Consuela Castiglioni may share Prada’s love of ugly ducklings, but looking back now on her show earlier in the week, the bubble skirts with uneven hems, clumsy sack coats adorned with jeweled pins, shrunken jackets belted with twine and craftsy necklaces already seem worlds away.
Giorgio Armani traveled to Asia, with a cream silk dress scattered with calligraphic “GA” logos, a black silk Mao jacket with crystal frog closures, red lacquer platform sandals and two diamante finale gowns that sparkled like Chinese firecrackers. Models wore spiral shell hats inspired by 1930s designer Elsa Schiaparelli, and Armani titled the collection “Shocking.” But it wasn’t. In the past, he has offered some truly alarming concoctions. (Harem pants, anyone?) Thankfully, this season’s feminine pastel blazers in a new, longer silhouette didn’t tread too far into foreign territory. Still, Armani continues to have a problem with skirts; his long silk versions with stiff hems moved like bells when the models walked. Very mother-of-the-bride.
Not that the audience seemed to mind. Armani is a hometown hero with a boutique, chocolate shop, restaurant and bookstore encompassing an entire city block here. When he took his bow, he was greeted with the kind of whoops and hollers typically reserved for European soccer players. And if his Rodeo Drive Walk of Style award, the street’s first, didn’t cement his status as the premier Hollywood designer, his newest project should. He’s sponsoring a photography book with Vanity Fair. Editor-in-chief Graydon Carter was in Milan to fete “Oscar Night: 75 Years of Hollywood Parties,” due in November from Knopf.
Christian Lacroix continues to successfully reinvent planet Pucci. His best pieces were sporty surf shorts and windbreakers, print sweaters paired with flirty white eyelet skirts, and featherweight dresses in pinwheel print chiffon that fluttered like a ripped sail. What was truly shocking was his finale, a Schiaparelli pink gown without so much as a hint of print.
At Burberry Prorsum, Christopher Bailey is also charged with balancing tradition and modernity. His spring collection was his most assured, building on what has become a personal signature: romantic jackets with the gathered backs and sleeves of a poet’s blouse. Full skirts resembled old quilts with star patterns, or were in pale pink perforated leather. Ruffled cardigans were trimmed in pearls, and rain slickers beamed in traffic-light-yellow patent leather. For evening, looped hems lent a whimsical touch to foil dresses in green or fuchsia.
Angela Missoni seemed to design her spring collection with daughter Margherita in mind. A Teen Vogue regular and promoter of the Missoni brand among the American social set, she sat on the floor lotus-style like the flower child she is. On the runway, the focus moved away from knits and onto lighthearted separates. Delicate chocolate brown floral chiffon dresses were detailed with lace intarsia, ribbon or glass beads, and worn under shrunken cardigans or mink boleros. A teeny bikini was studded with fruit appliques, and a mango and mint-green knit dress shimmied with pearl gray fringe.
Last season, Lisa Marie Presley’s teenage daughter, Riley Keough, made her modeling debut at the D&G; show. But it was the King himself who provided inspiration for the spring collection, appearing on T-shirts worn with rolled-up jeans, white socks and black lace-up shoes. The tiki bar and palm tree set was straight out of his 1961 film “Blue Hawaii,” but the costumes -- a floral sequined top, a multicolored raffia miniskirt, a Hawaiian print dress cut out at the cleavage and jeans shorts airbrushed with hibiscus blooms -- had more hip than old swivel hips himself. No, it was nothing new, but it still rocked.
