Frida Giannini, the designer for Gucci, is different from Milan’s other female designers. There was absolutely no runway fantasia in her show, it was strictly ready to wear on the streets. While I applaud her pragmatic standpoint, I was a bit shocked that she only offered 3 handbag designs in this collection. There was an up-sized, slouchier, hand-stitched “New Jackie” (which is a fantastic handbag), a utilitarian backpack that transforms into a carryall, and a clutch. She did the “New Jackie” in every possible material from the GG logo to exotics like crocodile and snakeskin. One version had the GG logo with snakeskin front pockets. Same thing with the backpack, but the was only one version of the clutch (which I didn’t really care for). The “New Jackie” is a classy and beautiful handbag and would look gorgeous with any outfit, especially a business suit. But with only one out of three designs that I liked from this collection, I thought the handbags were an overall disappointment. Especially after the horrible Fall 2008′s Babouska collection. In Giannini defense she has steered the Gucci label in a more chic business like direction, so the lack of frills and wild color combinations makes sense, but I would have liked to see more variety. And do we really need a backpack?

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