GUCCI BAGS

GUCCI IS ONE OF THE TOP 10 NAMES IN  LUXURY FASHION

GUCCI’S HISTORY

Founded at: Florence, Italy

Year: 1921

Headquarters: Florence, Italy

GUCCI has a very complex history.

Gucci was founded in Florence, Italy in 1921 by Guccio Gucci (his full name was actually Guccio Giovanbattista Giacinto Dario Maria Gucci ).  Guccio left his native Florence at the age of 16 for London, in there he worked at the prestigious Savoy Hotel where he got to see the habits of the well-to-do from around the world. He was a bellhop and got to handle the luggage and belongings of wealthy patrons, he learned about what they liked in terms of fashion and quality. He then worked for 4 years for a luxury rail company where he  and how they liked to travel in luxury. After that he worked for a luggage maker.

With the experiences he had accumulated and all that information he returned to Florence and opened a shop where he sold luxury leather goods he imported. He setup his own workshop to manufacture his own leather goods in Italy, his workshop quickly grew having sixty artisans working for him. Due to a war where Italy was involved there was a trade embargo on Italy and that made leather very hard to import, he was forced to become creative to continue his operations and he came up with multiple ideas of materials to use instead of leather. materials like linen, raffia, wicker, wood and jute and he incorporated bamboo for handles. He also developed his own tanning technique. In 1937 he launched his first collection of handbags.

In 1938 Aldo, Guccios’s son, opened a Store in Rome and they expanded the line of products to offer several accessories.

When World War II came Gucci’s shop was re-tasked in part to make boots for the Italian infantry.  As a result of shortages during the war they started using canvas for their bags instead o leather. Their canvas was very distinctive because they had imprinted a double “G” logo plus a red and green bands and once the war ended they also implemented a crest showing a shield and armored knight with a ribbon with the Gucci name. Their crest became synonymous with the city of Florence.

After World War II Guccio Gucci distributed the shares of his business among his 3 sons (Aldo, Rodolfo and Vasco).

In 1947 Gucci introduced the now very famous “Bamboo” bag.

The famous Gucci Loafers were launched in 1952.

Guccio Gucci died in November of 1953.

In November of 1953 Gucci opened its first store in the USA, at the Savoy Hotel in New York City.

Gucci opened a second store in New York city ion 1960.

In 1961 Gucci opened stores in London and In Palm Beach, Florida, USA. In the same year they introduced the “Jacki” bag, named after First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (because she used to be pictured with a similar Gucci bag often).

In 1963 Gucci opened its first store in Paris. 

Between 1964 and 1980 Gucci opened stores in multiple affluent shopping areas around the world, they also partnered with Rolls Royce, Cadillac and other prestigious firms for special edition products with the Gucci badges and Gucci design.

In the 1980s the Gucci heirs had a series of disputes and legal fights among them. Aldo’s son Giorgio, started the family feud by launching Gucci Boutique on his own. Then Aldo’s son Paolo tried to launch the brand Gucci Plus on his own. Aldo Gucci was sent to prison in the USA for tax evasion.

In May 1983, Rodolfo died his son Maurizzio Gucci inherited the majority of the company and he and launched a legal war against his uncle Aldo for full control of Gucci.

In the 1988 Gucci’s finances were in trouble and Maurizzio Gucci sold 47.8% of the company to a firm in Bahrain ( Investcorp ).

By 1989 Gucci had 1,000 (one thousand) stores worldwide.

Gucci was still in financial trouble for the next few years and in 1993 Maurizzio Gucci Sold the rest of Gucci to that Bahrain firm, so the Gucci family no longer owned shares of Gucci. 

Maurizzio Gucci was shot and killed by someone hired by his ex-wife in March of 1995.

Gucci had hired Dwan Mello as executive Vice president  in 1989 to restructure Gucci. She did a number of big changes to make the brand exclusive and coveted again, She closed most store went from 1,000 to only 180 worldwide, moved the headquarters back to Florence, Italy (from Milan), she reduced the product lines from 27,000 to 7,000, she also revived some of the most iconic products in Gucci’s history.

Dawn Mello hired Tom Ford as Creative Director. They looked at some old archives for the brand and created a collection inspired on that and it was an instant success.

Meanwhile, since 1994 Domenico De Sole  (who had been a Legal advisor for the Gucci family since the 1980s) was the CEO and he restructured manufacturing, costs, pricing and even advertising, making the brand successful again.

Gucci went public in the  New York Stock Exchange in October of 1995.

The Bahrain company ( Investcorp ) who had owned Gucci sold its shares between 1995 and 1997. Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) had been purchasing some of those shares and they owned by then 34% but Tom Ford and Domenico De Sole did not want  to be controlled by LVMH so they went to their competitor, the Pinault Family. François Pinault and his group Pinault Printemps Redoute (PPR), group which later became “Kering” aquired a controlling 40%. and that dilluted the shares of LVMH to only 20.7%

In a series of legal fights the Pinault group ended up keeping Gucci and in that process they also Acquired 100% of Yves Saint Laurent and 51% of Alexander McQueen.

Tom Ford and Domenico De Sole did not continue working for the new owners, the Pinault group. But Gucci retained 3 desginers who had worked under Ford’s creative direction: John Ray, Alessandra Facchinetti and Frida Giannini.

Frida Giannini was appointed Creative Director in 2006.

Patrizio di Marco, formerly CEO of Bottega Veneta, was named CEO of Gucci in 2008.

During this new direction in Gucci they increased the number of stores worldwide to 500.

GUCCI’s 2000s renaissance

By 2014 sales had been decreasing for a while so in December 2014, Marco Bizzarri, former CEO of Bottega Veneta, was named CEO of Gucci. In January 2015, Bizzarri appointed Alessandro Michele as creative director of Gucci. Alessandro Michele had worked for Gucci since 2002, under Frida Giannini. 

Alessandro Michele launched the Renaissance of Gucci. He revived Gucci classics, like the double-G logo, the Gucci “Jackie” bag, and other iconic Gucci items. He also created products like the “Dionysus” bag.

In January 2023, Sabato de Sarno was appointed creative director of Gucci.

In October 2024, Stefano Cantino replaced Marco Bizzarri as CEO.

Gucci today is part of the Kering group and they offer Ready-to-Wear, Handbags, Shoes, Small Leather Goods, Accessories,  Jewelry and Watches.

Gucci is considered one of the top 10 luxury brands in the world.