Gucci's woman for Fall 2013 is strong, powerful, confident — and a little dangerous to boot. The brand's pregnant creative director Frida Giannini took ladylike shapes and subverted them with hard-edged, forthrightly sexy materials and styling. This offering had no shortage of pieces cut from patent or python, but a simple suit in plain black leather, nipped in at the waist, made perhaps one of the strongest statements of the show. Elsewhere, scaled-up houndstooth prints made for an interesting use of pattern, while sheer panels and plunging necklines exposed daring amounts of skin. The evening gowns, most of them dark, were accented with attention-getting swirls of feathers and fringe. Altogether, it's a look that requires discipline and serious backbone — but it's nothing the Gucci woman can't handle.
