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Hard to believe there was a time when Frida Giannini's tenure at Gucci was controversial.
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Each season she has honed her point of view, broadened her repertoire, and the company now thrives in her image.
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For Spring 2010, Giannini introduced an energetic sportiness, with references to scuba and kitesurfing in leggings and parkas that collaged nylon, cotton, Aertex, and leather.
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The same active spirit inspired croc and python jackets with a rubberized effect.
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Such items imply an irreverence toward traditional notions of luxury, and that is exactly how Giannini has goosed Gucci.
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What she loses in subtlety, she gains in a flashy exuberance that is increasingly hard to resist.
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For instance, the white cotton jacquard suits that opened the show, paired with bright kilim-patterned shirts and pebble-soled more-moc-than-loafers, were so true to Giannini's own fantasy of stylish young people at play that they oozed their own type of integrity (I think the Latin expression is sui generis).
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Likewise the lean, mean evening suits in a midnight silk jacquard that gleamed like sharkskin.
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They made Fridaworld look like fun. And Gucci's numbers suggest thousands would agree.
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