Frida Giannini: out at Gucci?

[kimair]

from fwd...hmmm...

Word came late yesterday that Gucci was mulling over the possibility of axing Frida Giannini from her design post at the fashion goods and accessories house. Giannini was the accessories designer who was appointed to the position of ready-to-wear designer in March after Alessandra Facchinetti left the company. Back then, Francois-Henri Pinault of PPR characterized the appointment as the best decision he could have made for Gucci. But while under Giannini’s vision, accessories flourished after the departure of Tom Ford—most notably the well-received Flora cruise collection—sources say the designer may not have the same level of expertise for Gucci’s multiple collections of ready to wear. Those that have seen the resort collection—scheduled to be shown to the U.S. press next Tuesday in New York—told The Daily the response was not favorable. A retailer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, expressed confusion with Gucci. “Sales for ready to wear have been very sluggish,” the retailer noted. “Even though Frida has not shown a first collection yet, I am not surprised if she was let go.” Perhaps fueling this speculation even more is the rampant talk that Giannini, post Tom Ford, was being aggressively courted by Fendi chief executive officer Michael Burke, in an attempt to revitalize his dusty fashion and accessories house. What circulated was that Giannini, at the time, informed executives at Gucci that the only way she would stay on was if she was given complete control of ready to wear and accessories. A spokeswoman for Gucci denied the rumor. “That’s absolutely not true,” she said. “Frida is already in New York working finishing the collection.”

 

[Mr-Dale]

Hmmm this is just as interesting as confusing....hmmm

 

[arlekindearrabal]

everyone thought the transition would be smooth, but gucci is in for a ride

 

[softgrey]

thanks kimair...
not really surprising news to me...
the surprise was when she was given the rtw design position...

 

[Lena]

its impossible to axe her before the showroom/shows of her debut collection

 

[modelmama]

Gosh. The state of fashion these days is drama filled. A bit like a soap opera.
At this point I really don't care about the who's - I want to see the what's (pieces)

 

[Spike413]

thanks kimair...
not really surprising news to me...
the surprise was when she was given the rtw design position...

I totally agree, what were they thinking with that choice....but seriously, is Gucci going to become the next Givenchy?

 

[Diorling]

Fendi does really need her, no offense to Karl but he only comes out with one hot bag per season, Giannini comes out with several. I want to see her work at Gucci, I personally think Facchinetti should have been given a few more seasons to blossom, she was much better than Pilati...

 

[jssy4eva]

I totally agree, what were they thinking with that choice....but seriously, is Gucci going to become the next Givenchy?

that would be really sad.......i don't know...i personaly thought that the accesories that she did for gucci were amazing...the shoes from SS05 were stunning and the bags were nice, too...but i guess that we don't really know whether or not good accesories would translate into good clothes.....i really hope that gucci can stay where it is, but they nned to find another tom ford, and that will prbably never happen...sad

 

[taz]

oh no, not again.....

 

[liberty33r1b]

they should have sticked to alessandra anyways, i never really understood the decision to axe her....i personally loved all her collections!

 

[MissAnia]

wow... again ? duhh....

 

[Pastry]

everyone thought the transition would be smooth, but gucci is in for a ride

That's precisely what I thought. I'd make me so sad if this turned out to be a Givenchy case!

 

[screenage]

I feel sorry for her if they are going to sack her already, but I guess the proof of the pudding is inthe eating and we won't now how sackable she is until we see the clothes (or the profits).

 

[Atelier]

Random news item on Yahoo:

After Milan's fashion week kicks off on Saturday, 100 fashion shows will take place over nine days introducing the ready-to-wear trends for the spring-summer 2006 collections. The one to watch will be that put on by Gucci's Frida Giannini, pictured(AFP/File/Pietro Savorelli)

 

[softgrey]

yes atelier...
random indeed...

...

 

[Lena]

very bad promo photo..
she sure has problems at Gucci but the coming collection is obviously under her direction, the question is what will happen after the shows..

 

[liberty33r1b]

one of my most anticipated shows in milan this season....

 

[Meg]

yes I agree....they should have given alessandra more of a chance. I quite liked her. It will be interesting to see Gucci this season...

 

[metal-on-metal]

I just hope they move on from those awful skinny satin pants they've been pushing since Tom Ford left. These women interpret the Gucci legacy with an awfully heavy hand. I'm not expecting too much from Giannini.