Actually, maybe we should start a thread - why exactly you're not a fan of her work? (Apart from the already established - pants). Can you post some of the pants?
Just look at the Gucci FW2014 men and women. Those pants are diabolical. Low rise, low crouch, skinny legs and sometimes a dose of stretch. And she did those skinny pants her entire tenure at Gucci.
Personally I’m not a fan of her work and revisionism won’t make me change my opinion because, she was the first one to introduce a certain kind of mediocrity in terms of design in the fashion landscape.
Her work was commercial in the worst sense of the word but it was valid, or for her it validated her, or her artistic vision…Because it was selling.
She created a terrible thing in the HF space. From 2006 to 2010, Zara was copying so easily her work that it was almost abyssal. Her shows were always full of stuff.
The 00’s were a golden age of fashion and the moment she took over, Gucci stopped being part of that fashion conversation. And while her influence was insane in the streets because Zara would literally copy her entire Russian collection, the influence of Gucci decreased.
So she introduced that idea of merchandising shows at Gucci, that was carried by Hedi at Saint Laurent and that have become the norm today.
No matter how low in substance the collections were, because it’s selling, because the campaign of the stores are great, we cannot criticize it.
Beyond the fact that she slightly redeemed herself with some of her collections between 2010 and 2015, I have always found almost hilarious that her last collection was critically panned for the same reasons as her first show.
But to her credit: she is a great creative director, accessories designer and she has a sense of luxury. She understand products and knows how to sell it in a global form (campaign, stores).