Word: forde
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...particularly hard for designer Frida Giannini, 35, to win the vote of her fashion constituents for the three years that she has been overseeing the creative direction of Gucci, the $3.1 billion (2.1 billion euro) apparel, fragrance and accessories juggernaut. Compared with her predecessor, the fashion rock star Tom Ford, Giannini cuts a low profile, and critics have called her runway shows everything from "hard to warm to" to "pedestrian." What most infuriates the front-row naysayers, of course, is that Giannini's style is working: in 2005 and 2006, Gucci reported 18.4% and 16.8% growth, respectively...
More success for the Gucci brand had seemed unimaginable when Ford stepped down as creative director four years ago. Ford transformed the posh but petrified label into a global megabrand, resurrecting the company to the tune of $1.8 billion (from $500 million) and ushering in an era of stone-cold sexiness. Gucci's image, not to mention its stock price, soared. But in late 2004, Ford left the company abruptly after clashing with management. The Gucci Group hired three designers to replace him; two seasons later, the then 33-year-old Giannini?who had been plucked from Fendi by Ford...
...Gucci, Giannini worked her magic with the Flora print, an iconic design created as a scarf for Grace Kelly in 1966. As Ford was churning out the label's black-on-black nightclub vibe, Giannini splashed the happy flowers onto Gucci's bags. "There were so many people who said, 'Maybe it's too pretty for Gucci.' But to me, it was such an important design. So light in a way, but with a good energy," Giannini says. The Flora became one of the most successful products in Gucci history, a fact not lost on Gucci management or industry analysts...
Giannini's bigger challenge has been to try to reposition Gucci's clothing lines. With her first collection, she followed her devil-may-care instincts and showed sophisticated and feminine 1940s-inspired tea dresses, an abrupt move away from Ford's overt sexuality. Since then, some retailers felt the clothing lacked luster. "It's never an easy thing, following a strong designer at a brand that has a strong identity," says Ann Stordahl, executive vice president of women's apparel at Neiman Marcus. "But I think Frida has worked to add a feminine aspect to the Gucci brand...
...idea for applying Henry Ford assembly-line techniques to home cooking began in 1995, when Dream Dinners co-founder Stephanie Allen's catering business in Snohomish, Wash., became so busy, she didn't have time to cook for her own family. So she and a friend started getting together one Saturday a month to prepare a bunch of meals, shoving them in the freezer and later heating them up one night at a time. After seven years of giving tips to other moms who heard about the system, Allen sent an e-mail inviting friends to her catering kitchen...