>> Frida Giannini and James Franco don't seem to have your typical designer-brand face relationship.  As WWD put it: "Celebrities with contractual ties to the fashion world tend to take those connections very seriously — always walking the red carpet flawlessly dressed and speaking perfectly on point. Which is why it’s so refreshing to see James Franco have fun with the hand that feeds him."

The duo was captured dancing together over a year ago, when Franco was first announced as the face of Gucci by Gucci Pour Homme, at the launch party.  They appear together on a Fall 2009 i-D cover, arms around each other, which came out this month. And last Friday, when Franco presented Giannini with Fashion Group International's fashion award, he "made a splash" according to T's Horacio Silva. James recalled: "The last time we [Franco and Giannini] worked together, we ended the day by jumping into a pool with our clothes on!"

The latest signal of their more-lax-than-most business partnership comes courtesy of a video posted yesterday on FunnyorDie.com, in which Franco spoofs his own Gucci by Gucci Pour Homme TV commercial.  No word on whether he obtained permission from the brand before filming, but he mispronounces the label as "Gookie" or "Guckie" all throughout the video.

The spoof video! »

>> Just a few days after LVMH reported a decline, causing all marketing to be cut save for its top-performing brands, PPR reported a 76 percent decline in first-half profits. Tomas Maier can breathe a sigh of relief: the company's only area of growth was Bottega Veneta, on which PPR has been focusing, which saw an 8.6 percent rise in sales in the second quarter.

At flagship brand Gucci, which accounts for the bulk of Gucci Group's profits, Frida Giannini was credited by PPR chairman Francois-Henri Pinault for bolstering PPR as a whole with sustained demand for her bags in China.

As for any incoming Gucci Group brands . . . »

>> INSIDER WIRE —Don't expect Gucci or Versace to go for a major resort runway production, a la Chanel. Frida Giannini admits: "Although I have shown the Cruise collection on the runway on a couple of special occasions in the past, I feel that these pre-collections for both men and women, which are ultimately more commercially driven, are more appropriately presented to buyers and press in the showroom."  And Donatella Versace agrees: "[Resort is] a commercial collection and having a full blown runway show can be confusing as it ruins the ‘commercialized’ moment." But Donatella is considering switching her runway shows up: “I’ve been thinking about doing a virtual runway show for over a year — we need to find a new formula.” [NYTimes]

>> Frida Giannini feels the heat from fashion critics whenever she presents a new Gucci collection — her Spring 2009 collection earned comparisons to Zara, and the Fall 2009 collection to Bebe, but judging from two recent conversations she had with The Times (UK), she doesn't seem to mind.  “I’m not criticised by all the world — it is a very small niche of people. And I will never change for them. I want to stay close to my thoughts. When someone wants to offend me by saying I’m copied by the high street — well, for me, it’s a huge compliment.”

Despite the allegations that she's taken the brand too commercial, Frida vows that she's not caught up in all the celebrity-obsessed hubbub; she's more focused on keeping the $2.2 billion turnover she's cultivated for the brand.

She cares so little about celebrities, there were no red carpet gowns in the runway show.

“I didn't want to show long evening dresses this time because it's not about the Oscars any more. I don't want to waste our time designing something that at the last minute might not get worn. Anyway, celebrities just aren't my obsession. Some are really damaged by their stylists as well — and there's no loyalty to a brand. Audrey Hepburn's style was really defined by Givenchy, but now actresses wear anything and everything, and that can damage a brand too. I'm more interested in talking to real women.”

Sometimes I think that I'm living on the moon." »

>> Frida Giannini's runway-clothes-as-merchandise concept for Gucci may be selling well, but it's still not sitting well with critics.  Last season, her collection was likened to Zara, and this season her Fall 2009 collection earned another mall-brand comparison: Bebe.

Cathy Horyn and Suzy Menkes, neither of whom are afraid to be blunt, seemed indifferent to criticizing the collection — both just focused on Frida's decision to channel sex.  But Christina Binkley of The Wall Street Journal got more pointed, going so far to ask "Who is the Gucci woman?": "[Frida] seems to develop a startling new personality each season, leaving last season’s clothes lost in relation to the new collection. Last season, she was globetrotting with flower children. This season, she’s shaking it in sequined leggings and a sparkling tunic at Studio 54."

"Gucci continues to look like Bebe with a bigger budget" »

>> Even after the groundbreaking all-black July 2008 Vogue Italia and the newly inaugurated President Obama, models of color are still having trouble taking the runway in Milan.  After three days of menswear, only Giorgio Armani and Donatella Versace cast black models; Jil Sander, Gucci, Missoni, Burberry, Trussardi, Bottega Veneta, Gianfranco Ferre, Roberto Cavalli, and Prada did not.

Frida Giannini, who has cast exactly one black female model since since she took the reins at Gucci in 2005 — Chanel Iman — blamed modeling agencies: "I think it would be great if there was an industry initiative on this issue, because I am always looking for black models, or even Chinese or whatever, for the shows.  I’m after a specific kind of look, and I request the agencies — I asked last season — to send me someone interesting. But they never send me anyone very new."

Finger-pointing seems to be the go-to excuse with this issue, but the owner of New York agency Red says he flew out three promising black models, who ended up with "amazing options, options I’d never seen before on black guys" for Prada or Jil Sander.  Unfortunately, they all fell through before the shows.

Even Franca Sozzani, editor of Vogue Italia, who had such a hand in pinpointing the issue, seems ready to push it aside, blaming the lack of diversity on the fact that designers might see it is "too obvious" to cast black models the week of Obama's inauguration.  “It has nothing to do with a racist attitude."
*image: source

>> Over the weekend, Valentino confirmed that its accessories designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli will be replacing Alessandra Facchinetti as creative directors of the brand.  This marks the second time Facchinetti has been replaced by accessories specialists, the first being when Frida Giannini replaced her at Gucci in 2005.

But here's the rub — Facchinetti found out she was being replaced at Valentino from the press, she said in a statement:

It was with deep regret that I learnt from the press that I would no longer be working with Valentino. This news came as a great surprise since the company’s top management has not yet seen fit to inform me of the above.

I would like to thank Valentino S.p.A. for showing their appreciation of my 'creative contribution and my sophisticated talent,' although I deeply regret the fact that this talent and contribution do not seem to have been adequately acknowledged.  I find it extremely sad that a brand label of the caliber of Valentino, which has made history in the world of fashion, has been the subject of rumors for the past two weeks.

So why was she given the boot? »