Frida Giannini

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>> It's no secret that Gucci creative director Frida Giannini likes Rome, where she grew up, and music from the likes of Prince, Madonna, and Franz Ferdinand. Those are two of the twelve things she tells Elle Decor's February/March 2011 issue (out Feb. 8) she can't live without . . . but what about some of the less obvious things she listed? Among them: the seaside ("When I want to escape, I take my German shepherd, Gunner IV, and go to my beach house in Sabaudia, an hour from Rome"); hot dogs in Central Park ("I can eat four at a time, with lots of ketchup"); Agent Provocateur lingerie ("I wear a lot of black, which can look severe. Lingerie lets me play with my secret side"); pilates ("I do it early in the morning; I feel less guilty for the rest of the day"); and pasta with fresh tomatoes ("Don't forget the basil. So good and so healthy").

>> Since Frida Giannini took the helm back in 2004, Gucci has been criticized for being too commercial, even earning comparisons to Zara at one point. The label's chief executive, Patrizio di Marco, who joined the company at the beginning of last year, agrees: "Gucci was going too mass-market, too commercial, too much on opening price points."

While having less expensive, aspirational products boosted Gucci's sales for several years, the brand had hoped to hit €3 billion ($3.9 billion) in sales by 2011. Last year, sales were €2.27 billion. Di Marco blames the fact that buyers for Gucci's own stores (which account for 70 percent of the brand's sales) were choosing cheaper, logoed items over Giannini's designs, causing her designs to be lost and an erosion of the brand's exclusivity. During the slump, aspirational purchases also slowed sharply, resulting in Gucci being hit harder than Louis Vuitton or Hermes.

So di Marco has set out to elevate the brand and shed it of its cheapening image. The brand's Spring 2011 collection focuses on "sophisticated seduction" and marks the debut of a new line of heritage-inspired handbags drawing from the brand's equestrian history. "Every single brand in the universe, especially in this industry, is talking about heritage — even when there's no heritage, no history," says di Marco, who noted that he supports Giannini's use of archives for inspiration. "Some designers say, 'The archives are old and I know best. That's the most pretentious attitude possible. This company is about icons."

He added that Gucci will place less focus on the cheaper "GG" monogram canvas bags, which saturated the market previously, and more emphasis on its new offering of "vintage" bags such as the New Bamboo bag, an updated $2,000 version of a 1947 bag with a bamboo handle, and the $3,000 New Jackie leather bag, which takes its inspiration from a purse made famous by Jackie Onassis. Gucci store buyers have also been given strict guidelines on what they can choose for their boutiques — instead of so many logo bags, prime positioning and focus will go towards the new heritage-inspired products.

>> While some luxury brands are just now getting on the ecommerce train (and some still have yet to do so), Gucci, which launched its US ecommerce site in 2002, is now taking its online shopping experience to the next level — creating what it terms a "luxury digital flagship store."

Frida Giannini has been working on the newly rolled-out experience for the past 18 months, and Gucci president and CEO Patrizio di Marco says: “The destiny of the gucci.com digital flagship store is that it will become our highest-volume store in the world.”

They're also taking runway livestreaming to the next level »

Iman (who will be recognized as this year’s Fashion Icon during the CFDA awards tonight) discusses her cosmetics collection, fashion line for HSN, and the role models used to have collaborating with designers.

John Galliano, chairman of the Fashion Fringe at Covent Garden competition, announced the three 2010 finalists—Alice Palmer, Jade Kang, and Corrie Nielsen.

Frida Giannini launches Gucci iPad cases. Priced at $230, the case will be available starting in mid-June in Gucci’s flagship stores in Rome, Milan, Paris, London and New York.

Joe Zee is editing a coffee table book for Elle's 25th anniversary tentatively titled “The Ellements of Style."

Resort is all about the print for Frida Giannini's Gucci. Tiger stripes in khaki, army green and gray along with an iconic Gucci belt and chain print covered much of the resort collection's skinny pantsuits, slim strapless dresses, and one-piece swimwear. Giannini showed hints of inspiration from the Seventies, a decade not lost on Karl Lagerfeld's recent ressort collection for Chanel.

>> Although Gucci declined comment back in January when rumor went around that Frida Giannini was working on a debut couture collection for the brand, it appears the rumors were true. The brand sent out a release today announcing that the dress Salma Hayek wore to the Robin Hood premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, at left, is the "very first" couture gown from the Gucci Premiere collection designed by Giannini.

The dress was described in the statement as a "floor length bordeaux silk georgette one shoulder gown with hip, back and shoulder drape detail [which] also features deep red crystal embroidery at the shoulder and waist." Hayek was accompanied on the red carpet by her husband, Francois-Henri Pinault, CEO of PPR, which owns Gucci.

Back when the rumors of the Gucci couture collection went around, there were no plans to show it on the runway. Instead, it was said it would be sold by appointment and used to dress top celebrities for big red carpet occasions.

Frida Giannini took her first trip to Singapore this week to officiate the opening of a revamped Gucci flagship and while there, experienced the honor of having an orchid named after her. (Rihanna and Princess Diana also have special blooms named for them in Singapore.) The Paravanda Frida, a white flower with fuchsia tips, was the inspiration for limited-edition bags only available in Singapore to benefit a local children’s charity. While in China, Giannini also announced plans to launch a children's line for Gucci this June, first in Italy and then in 40 worldwide stores.

Frida Giannini reveals Gucci's plans to launch a couture collection.

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Stayed informed concerning all things Chanel at Chanel News.

Source: Getty