^ Unfortunately most people do not even know/remember who Tom Ford is or his connection to Gucci: even some younger members here on tfs, believe it or not
For most of them, Frida is Gucci. Her aesthetic is what they know and got to familiar with in terms of the brand Gucci.
'Start over'... That is precisely what Frida claims to be doing actually.
She believes what she does is more women-friendly, personal, sophisticated, and less "footballer's wife" than anything Ford has ever done... the last is actually her own words. She claims that she understands the modern women and her customer much better than Tom ever did. I am with you guys, and the only reason why I still have a soft spot for Gucci is Tom and the seductive heritage he left behind. It pains me to search for Tom ford pieces on ebay and stuff that were iconic to his reign over at Gucci. But Gucci is systematically working on erasing every trace he left for the Gucci DNA: the store interiors, the total design philosophy and look... I believe if she could, Frida would even change the fragrance bottles he designed. I own the Sarah Mower book
Gucci by Gucci that was released after his departure as a 'f- you' to his book
TOM FORD, and believe me; they do not even mention him properly. Of course, there are millions of images from his ads and collections, but just as much -if not more- from Gucci before Tom... Also, so much from Frida's worst reviewed collections which were only like 4 maybe 5 seasons at the time the book came out and were not even comparable to his period, due to duration and how little she had done up to that point.
They did
start over. It is not going to a place fashion-worthy; that is another story.
Like I said, the runway shows are the source of prestige and image for these brands, and Gucci used to set the bar for Milan, even more effective than Prada at the time. In three seasons, Frida completely destroyed that superiority for the sake of sales. LV -I am sure- did not sell that many lame bar blazers or those obi-belted jackets this season, but they do help to maintain their ultra-lux standard and level in today's harsh hierarchy of luxury design and fashion. Gucci doesn't understand that. They lose prestige and credibility among the fashion elite. But they are the biggest selling force in the business, so does it really matter?