Talking about the Gucci brand is talking about style, elegance, sophistication and above all luxury. Despite everything, the firm suffered ups and downs throughout its early years, until it managed to establish itself as one of the best brands in the world in terms of fashion and accessories, but how did they achieve it?
humble take off
Gucci was born from the hand of Guccio Gucci, a Florentine who from a young age stood out for his taste for the world of luxury. Thus, in 1920 he opened a store in Florence where he sold leather goods made entirely by hand.
The main products of the store, even then, were belts, bags and shoes. The store had considerable income as it was successful among high net worth customers for the quality of its products and raw materials.
For this reason, when the 3 children of the original Gucci were adults, they decided to go one step further and expand the firm. This is how they opened their next stores in other prestigious Italian cities that are well known in the world of fashion, such as Rome or Milan.
International expantion
Thanks to the good sales results in those years, and despite the crisis after the Second World War, Gucci decided to cross the pond and open a branch in New York, where it was already beginning to be known among celebrities and renowned personalities for its trips to Europe. It was the 60s and there was no Hollywood star who didn’t wear a accessory with the famous brand logo.
Crisis and revival
Despite the path traveled by the firm, in the 80s it took a significant slip, due to family problems that caused its prestige to drop. This loss of prestige lasted until the firm was sold by the last direct descendant of the original Gucci, shortly before he died. At that time, the new managers put a still unknown Tom Ford at the helm of the brand.
And it was precisely Ford who regained Gucci’s prestige, thanks to its unique designs inspired by the New York of the 70s and which were a resounding success among the jet set.
But the directors of Gucci not only focused on releasing the brand’s new designs, but also knew how to manage success very well, taking advantage of the benefits to create a huge conglomerate thanks to the collaboration and acquisition of other firms such as YSL or McQueen. .
News and new faces
In 2004 Tom Ford decided to leave the firm and it was Frida Giannini who became its main designer. Giannini opted for a risky change, but it went perfectly and replaced the traditional Ford black color with new colors and especially with prints, which ended up being representative of the brand.
The designer was at the head of the firm until relatively recently. In 2014 she left her and today the young Alessandro Michele is her creative director.
Michele was presented to the public in 2015 at the fall-winter fashion show with a collection with retro touches that delighted the regulars of the brand. Therefore, according to the good reception, it is predicted that the firm will continue to be successful
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