Italian Fashion Watch

She has medals on her chest, a silken blouse with fins of frills, a thick skirt and a gold plaque under the laces of her high-heeled shoes. She’s the purposeful new Gucci girl, except that she has matured into all those famous wartime women, from the movie star Katharine Hepburn to the photographer Lee Miller, with the body of a woman and the guts (not to mention the clothes) of a man.

Sounds pretentious for a fashion show? This flirtation with the ’40s was just a theme at the Gucci show Wednesday. But from the thick winter coat that strode out at the start to the ending of silver screen gowns with twin brooches sparkling from sweetheart necklines, the designer Frida Giannini caught the man/ woman mood, with military overtones, of the autumn/winter Milan season.

It was her best show yet, in terms of providing a new, heavyweight image for Gucci, which needs to broaden its scope from skinny pants for spindly celebrities and sexpot dressing after dark. Giannini addressed the dress, making it seem summer, rather than winter, but pretty with an abstract bluebell print and a focus on a sharp and embellished shoulder. Also from the 1940s came tweed knickers, a snug woolen vest and Rita Hayworth waterfalls of hair.