MFW: Gucci: Bebe with a bigger budget?

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MILAN -- To her credit, Frida Giannini started doing the whole rock star thing long before everyone else climbed on the bandwagon this season. The problem is that she’s never been able to elevate the look to the realm of luxury. So Gucci continues to look like Bebe with a bigger budget.

This season was the same song, different verse, starting with unremarkable crepe de chine kimono-sleeve minidresses in oversized polka dots or diagonal stripes, sliding off the shoulders and worn with leggings or over-the-knee leather boots.

Fur jackets, some sprayed with color or crystal embroidered, sparkly hoodies and jogging pants, and iridescent bags that looked as if gasoline had been poured on them, completed the somewhat trashy picture.

Giannini’s suits are always her most compelling pieces, with skinny pants and shrunken jackets. The season’s best came in microcheck jacquard or gleaming black, layered over Lurex striped shirts.

And while there was nothing terribly wrong with the crystal-studded, animal spot and flower-embroidered micro minidresses inspired by Tina Chow’s wilder days, women who want to look like walking disco balls are probably too young to afford these clothes.

Besides, clubwear is the kind of thing you want to be disposable so you can dance, drink, and leave it in a ball on your bedroom floor at the end of the night. Which means you might as well buy Bebe.

-- Booth Moore

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