Purple Magazine
— S/S 2012 issue 17
Frida Giannini
creative director of Gucci
interview by OLIVIER ZAHM
All film stills from the Fiat 500 by Gucci film by Olivier Zahm
OLIVIER ZAHM — What do you like about Carlo Mollino? His design, his architecture, his photographs?
FRIDA GIANNINI — He had a multi-faceted personality, and it is very difficult to say what I like most about him. But if I had to choose one of his arts, I would say design.
OLIVIER ZAHM — What do you like most about Italy in relation to art, design, and fashion?
FRIDA GIANNINI — The Roman churches with Caravaggio’s paintings. Milanese design galleries. The expertise of our craftsmen.
OLIVIER ZAHM — What is the disadvantage of being Italian when you work in a creative field?
FRIDA GIANNINI — Italy lacks universities or academies that provide an international schooling. Our schools are perhaps too limited to the local reality.
OLIVIER ZAHM — Italian cinema from the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s has deeply influenced fashion design as well as fashion photography. Has cinema had an impact on you in the past and in your work today? Do you have a favorite Italian filmmaker or Italian film?
FRIDA GIANNINI — Federico Fellini is one of my favorites. Together with Scorsese’s The Film Foundation, we restored La Dolce Vita, which is, in my opinion, a portrait of Italian elegance and society in the ’60s.
OLIVIER ZAHM — My film takes place in Turin, which is also, as you know, the capital of the Fiat industry. How would you describe this city?
FRIDA GIANNINI — Turin is elegant, aristocratic, and much more multicultural than any other Italian city. As a matter of fact, art flourishes in many different ways there.
OLIVIER ZAHM — What is the connection between Gucci and cars? At the Gucci museum in Florence, there is a beautiful Gucci-customized Cadillac Seville. I guess it’s not the first time that Gucci has put its label on a car. It would be great to learn more from you about this relationship, which makes sense, especially in a period when car design seems to be more and more functionally-oriented and mass market.
FRIDA GIANNINI — The link has always been there because Gucci began as a producer of suitcases and travel items. It’s a lifestyle. The idea to collaborate on the Fiat 500 and for Gucci to have a compact, on-the-go car is a reflection of our life today. A beautiful, powerful, sexy woman does not necessarily go around in a limousine — she’s much more cool if she takes a utilitarian approach. It’s like pairing a crocodile handbag with jeans.
