GUCCI: Plaid + Plaid = Punk?

The most recent issue of W magazine features a mini-mag, one of those annoying 50-page affairs that requires you to flip the magazine over to read it. It mostly focuses on a fawning interview with Keira Knightley and James McAvoy (fine, fine, they were absurdly hot in Atonement, got it), and seems to contain exclusively ads for the new Gucci Spring '08 collection. The photos are, in my opinion, really strikingly gorgeous (well shot, Inez & Vinoodh). And the clothes...ooh! Normally I don't love the Gucci hypersnob aesthetic; this is a new direction for them, and I heartily approve.

What's interesting is how sharp and rock-and-roll these looks are, considering the ultra-traditional preppy prints and styles that they're made from. Exaggerated glen plaid is tailored into skinny cropped trousers and combined with a high-necked blouse in an exaggerated box plaid...and somehow, with an intimidating tight leather jacket and an impeccably styled badass model, the entire thing looks impossibly edgy.

Again, a ridiculously preppy ensemble--pink knee-length straight skirt and coordinating colorblocked shell--looks anything but stodgy with its sharp leather accessories. I love handy visual contradictions, and this tickles me. If only I'd had a python biker jacket to pair with my J. Crew sweaters in high school, maybe the bad boys would've asked me to the prom.