Fashion Figure

Fashion Figure of the Month 

Guccio Gucci

In 1921, Guccio Gucci opened a leather goods company and small luggage store in his native Florence. Though his vision for the brand was inspired by London, and the refined aesthetic of English nobility he had witnessed while working in the Savoy Hotel, his goal on returning to Italy was to ally this classy sensibility with the unique skills of his native Italy specifically with the master craftsmanship of local Tuscan artisans.

Within a few years, the label enjoyed such success the sophisticated international clientele on vacation in Florence thronged to Gucci’s bottega, seeking the equestrian-inspired collection of bags, trunks, gloves, shoes and belts. Many of Guccio’s Italian clients were local horse-riding aristocrats, and their demand for riding gear led Gucci to develop its unique Horsebit icon - an enduring symbol of the fashion house and its increasingly innovative design aesthetic.

Faced with a shortage of foreign supplies during the difficult years of Fascist dictatorship in Italy, Gucci began experimenting with atypical luxury materials, like hemp, linen and jute. One of its artisans’ most subtle innovations was burnishing cane to create the handle of the new Bamboo Bag, whose curvy side was inspired by a saddle’s shape. An ingenious example of “necessity as the mother of invention”, the bamboo became the first of Gucci's many iconic products. A favorite of royalty and celebrities alike, the bag with burnished handle remains a huge favorite today.

During the Fifties, Gucci again found equestrian inspiration with its trademark green-red-green web stripe, derived from a traditional saddle girth. It became an instant success and an instantly recognizable hallmark of the brand. Opening stores in Milan and New York, Gucci started to build its global presence as a symbol of modern luxury.

With the passing of Guccio Gucci in 1953, his sons Aldo, Vasco, Ugo and Rodolfo took over the business.

Gucci products quickly became renowned for timeless design and were cherished by iconic movie stars and figures of elegance in the Jet Set era. Jackie Kennedy carried the Gucci shoulder bag, which is known today as the Jackie O. Liz Taylor, Peter Sellers and Samuel Beckett sported the unstructured, unisex Hobo Bag. Gucci’s classic moccasin with Horsebit hardware became part of the permanent collection at the Costume Institute, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Gucci answers a personal request by Grace Kelly by creating the now famous Flora silk print scarf for the Monaco princess.

In the mid-60s, Gucci adopted the legendary interlocking double G logo, creating yet another chic Gucci visual insignia. Gucci continued its expansion abroad with stores opening in London, Palm Beach, Paris and Beverly Hills.

Gucci continued its global expansion, true to the original aspirations of Aldo, and set its sights on the Far East. Stores opened in Tokyo and Hong Kong. The company developed its first ready-to-wear collections, featuring GG printed shirts or GG buttoned fur-trim coats.

The brand became famous for its unique mix of innovative audacity and legendary Italian quality and craftsmanship. Gucci icons were re-invented in new shapes or colors – burning the GG logo through suede - using ever more luxurious materials, like baby crocodile coats with sterling silver snakehead buckles. 

In 1977, its Beverly Hills flagship was revamped with a private Gucci Gallery, where privileged VIPs like Rita Hayworth or Michael Caine could browse for $10,000 bags with detachable gold and diamond chain or platinum fox bed throws.

In 1981 Gucci staged its first ever runway show in Florence.

In 1982, Gucci became a public limited company, and leadership passed to Rodolfo's son, Maurizio Gucci, who held 50 percent of the company’s shares. In 1987, Investcorp, a Bahrain-based investment company, began buying into Gucci, eventually completing the purchase of all the company’s shares in the early Nineties.

Source: The House of Gucci