Frida Giannini

I am not Tom Ford. That was the message when Frida Giannini presented her first full collection for Gucci this week, as the second designer to try her hand leading the mega-brand since the inimitable Ford left in 2003. Even the show venue at the Diana Majestic Hotel had been transformed. Instead of Ford's love nest, with plush black banquettes and shag carpets, the space looked more like a woman's wardrobe with wood paneling, shiny gold benches and mirrored walls.

IT'S no secret that the designer fashion business is driven by accessory sales that are in turn fueled by the kind of desire only a slick runway show can create. But rarely is the designer who makes the bonbons also the one who has to cook up the meat. That's exactly what has happened at Gucci, where Frida Giannini, the brand's powerhouse of an accessory designer, was promoted to creative director for all collections after a couple of unsuccessful successors to Tom Ford.

GUCCI is back. That was the message Wednesday night when designer Frida Giannini presented a collection with the kind of brash glamour that gets cash registers (and Hollywood stylists) humming. The former Gucci accessories designer, who took over women's ready-to-wear last March, was criticized for her saccharine spring collection, highlighted by puff-sleeve dresses in tepid florals.

GUCCI is back. That was the message Wednesday night when designer Frida Giannini presented a collection with the kind of brash glamour that gets cash registers (and Hollywood stylists) humming. The former Gucci accessories designer, who took over women's ready-to-wear last March, was criticized for her saccharine spring collection, highlighted by puff-sleeve dresses in tepid florals.

IT'S no secret that the designer fashion business is driven by accessory sales that are in turn fueled by the kind of desire only a slick runway show can create. But rarely is the designer who makes the bonbons also the one who has to cook up the meat. That's exactly what has happened at Gucci, where Frida Giannini, the brand's powerhouse of an accessory designer, was promoted to creative director for all collections after a couple of unsuccessful successors to Tom Ford.

Being a woman is a blood sport, according to Miuccia Prada, who on Sunday showed her own powerful vision of the tough chic that is emerging as one of the biggest fashion trends for fall. And it didn't involve the rocker wear we've seen from so many other Italian labels, including Gucci. The arena seating should have been a clue.

Less than two years after Tom Ford left Gucci, the luxury brand once again has a single design vision. On Tuesday, men's wear designer John Ray resigned, leaving Frida Giannini in charge of women's wear, men's wear and accessories. No reason was given. The move underscores Gucci's confidence in Giannini, despite the lukewarm reviews for her first women's wear collection, which was presented in Milan in October.

Kim Kardashian, dressed in black, and Kanye West, dressed in white, looked very yin/yang as they sat in the front row at Givenchy's Paris Fashion Week runway show on Sunday. Others in the crowd included Nicole Richie, Jessica Chastain and Amanda Seyfried. [Styleite] Tilda Swinton, Clemence Poesy and Jane Birkin attended Acne's first-ever Paris women's runway show on Saturday. [WWD] Los Angeles Times Fashion Critic Booth Moore made the rounds of the shows all weekend, too. Read her coverage here.

Forget the front row at Marc Jacobs -- this was the hottest place to be during New York Fashion Week. On Wednesday night, Gucci pitched an enormous tent on the north lawn of the United Nations and threw a party that felt like the Vanity Fair Oscar bash gone East. The evening, hosted by Madonna, was a benefit for the UNICEF Children's Fund and Raising Malawi, organizations that fight the effects of AIDS on children in Africa.

Heavy metal studs, leather leggings, safety pins and sequins, oversized sweaters and boyfriend jackets, power shoulders and flashes of neon. During the shows at Milan Fashion Week, it wasn't a question of whether the 1980s would be referenced, but which part of the 1980s.

I am not Tom Ford. That was the message when Frida Giannini presented her first full collection for Gucci this week, as the second designer to try her hand leading the mega-brand since the inimitable Ford left in 2003. Even the show venue at the Diana Majestic Hotel had been transformed. Instead of Ford's love nest, with plush black banquettes and shag carpets, the space looked more like a woman's wardrobe with wood paneling, shiny gold benches and mirrored walls.

As the high-profile worlds of fashion and music collide at the Grammy Awards on Sunday night, one need only consider David Bowie to see why the two will be forever intertwined. Five decades after he introduced the first of his myriad manifestations, Bowie and his stylistic influences still reverberate from Hollywood red carpets to glossy magazine covers to the runway shows going on now at New York Fashion Week. And, if the first month and a half of 2013 is any indication, there's every reason to believe that the Thin White Duke will cast a long shadow across popular culture this year.

Soccer great (and underwear designer/model) David Beckham is saying goodbye to fans in Los Angeles. He's leaving his gig with the L.A. Galaxy after Saturday's MLS championship game. But my bet is he keeps turning up in underwear ads. After all, who can forget the giant-sized images of Beckham in his briefs and boxers that were projected on the White Cliffs of Dover last summer during the Olympics? [Los Angeles Times] Rihanna and Chris Brown both used social media to show off matching Rolex watches.