ABSTRUSE
Cirque du Freak
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2003
- Posts
- 50,094
Gucci’s Wuthering Heights
Fashion Wire Daily - Milan - Heathcliff, or rather a model lookalike, opened the show for the Fall/Winter 2006/2007 Gucci men's show in Milan Tuesday night, in the latest step away from hard edge sex appeal by the house's men's designer John Ray.
After his first two collections, where he marched the Florentine label out of Tuscany and into England's Home Counties' country houses, Ray took a far more radical step this season, with an inventively tailored, rather elegant though somewhat derivative choice of clothes.
One could almost feel the wind on the Yorkshire moors in the first look, when a hirsute lad in a sleek black cashmere minmalist highwayman's coat strode out on the runway. In an odd way, one can tell a lot about where a Gucci collection is heading from looking at the catwalk, which this season was mannish industrial metal gray carpet, austere like the fashion.
Backed up by some portentiously tinkling orchestral music, the dark opening passages starred futurist priests and modern day Dick Turpins, all of whom had pants tucked into mechanic's boots. Finished with chains at the ankle and even under the sole, the boots were possibly the best accessory idea Ray presented, while the marbled leather satchels were not.
Top coats worn buttoned up and cut with broad back vents had a Napoleonic feel, though the casting had a scruffy rocker finish.
"Magic romanticism," explained Ray backstage post-show.
With Milan a giant swathe of chiffon, and oodles of designers offering dandified dress shirts, it was no real surprise to see Ray play with Barry Lyndon style shirts. However his choice of semi-sheer shirts with tab collars finished with an aged filgree of lace looked improbable and more than a step too far for the classic Gucci customer.
Moreover, there was a confusing Gucci grunge moment, with youths in Allegheny check shirts. Surely no rock star could be further away from this slick Italian brand than Kurt Cobain? Finally, two particular looks – a shrunken leather motorbike blouson and an aged cowhide punker's jacket rendered the Heights a tad too low.
Yet, a smart velvet moment for evening meant that the show did ultimately end on a high note, unlike Heathcliff in Emily Bronte's famous novel.
Fashion Wire Daily - Milan - Heathcliff, or rather a model lookalike, opened the show for the Fall/Winter 2006/2007 Gucci men's show in Milan Tuesday night, in the latest step away from hard edge sex appeal by the house's men's designer John Ray.
After his first two collections, where he marched the Florentine label out of Tuscany and into England's Home Counties' country houses, Ray took a far more radical step this season, with an inventively tailored, rather elegant though somewhat derivative choice of clothes.
One could almost feel the wind on the Yorkshire moors in the first look, when a hirsute lad in a sleek black cashmere minmalist highwayman's coat strode out on the runway. In an odd way, one can tell a lot about where a Gucci collection is heading from looking at the catwalk, which this season was mannish industrial metal gray carpet, austere like the fashion.
Backed up by some portentiously tinkling orchestral music, the dark opening passages starred futurist priests and modern day Dick Turpins, all of whom had pants tucked into mechanic's boots. Finished with chains at the ankle and even under the sole, the boots were possibly the best accessory idea Ray presented, while the marbled leather satchels were not.
Top coats worn buttoned up and cut with broad back vents had a Napoleonic feel, though the casting had a scruffy rocker finish.
"Magic romanticism," explained Ray backstage post-show.
With Milan a giant swathe of chiffon, and oodles of designers offering dandified dress shirts, it was no real surprise to see Ray play with Barry Lyndon style shirts. However his choice of semi-sheer shirts with tab collars finished with an aged filgree of lace looked improbable and more than a step too far for the classic Gucci customer.
Moreover, there was a confusing Gucci grunge moment, with youths in Allegheny check shirts. Surely no rock star could be further away from this slick Italian brand than Kurt Cobain? Finally, two particular looks – a shrunken leather motorbike blouson and an aged cowhide punker's jacket rendered the Heights a tad too low.
Yet, a smart velvet moment for evening meant that the show did ultimately end on a high note, unlike Heathcliff in Emily Bronte's famous novel.
