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Gianfranco Ferre Sticks to His Strong Suit
By: Godfrey Deeny
Photos by Gruber-FWD
Milan, Jun 29, 2002/FWD/ --- Got to hand it to Gianfranco Ferre -- he stays true to himself
and his signature looks.
With half the labels in Milan attempting to reinvent themselves as masters of beachwear
couture, Ferre presented a collection of what he does best -- fine tailoring in a flourish
of fabrics.
Gianfranco's is a big shouldered silhouette, but none the less elegant for that.
This season he displayed crisp swinging cotton suits with Norfolk jackets, and high-armpitted
linen herringbone suits in a sandy shade.
Ferre still makes some of the best men's shirts in Milan, or indeed anywhere.
His transparent linen and organza shirts embellished with flower patterns were grandly chic,
and seemed to capture the Mies van der Rohe dictum that Ferre reproduced in his program:
"We want to keep feet firmly on the ground yet have our head amidst the stars."
However, like many Ferre collections, this could have done with some editing.
There was a particularly jarring fivesome of looks in dusty pink that shouldn't have made
it out of the backstage area.
And while his denim pants were well-cut, they actually had a stiff crease.
I mean, come on.
That said, Ferre does have a loyal customer who wants class but with fantasy.
This collection of sophisticated, albeit occasionally over the top, looks will keep them happy.
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