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Guccio Gucci S.p.A., doing business as Gucci ( , ), is an Italian Luxury goods fashion house based in Florence. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and branding to Coty for fragrance and cosmetics under the name Gucci Beauty.
Gucci was founded in 1921 by Guccio Gucci (1881–1953) in Florence, Tuscany. Under the direction of Aldo Gucci (son of Guccio), Gucci became a global brand, and was considered emblematic of the Italian economic miracle. Following family feuds during the 1980s, the Gucci family was entirely ousted from the capital of the company by 1993. After this crisis, the brand was revived and in 1999 Gucci became a subsidiary of the French conglomerate PPR, which later renamed itself to Kering.
In 2024, Gucci operated 529 stores with 20,032 employees, and generated €7.65 billion in sales. Stefano Cantino has been CEO of Gucci since October 2024 and Demna creative director since March 2025.
In 1921, Guccio Gucci bought his own shop on Via della Vigna Nuova in Florence, Azienda Individuale Guccio Gucci, where he sold imported leather luggage. He also opened a small workshop to have his own leather goods made by local craftsmen. Eventually, a larger workshop had to be acquired to house Gucci's sixty artisans. In 1935, the invasion of Ethiopia by Mussolini led the League of Nations to impose a trade embargo on Italy. Leather became scarce, pushing Guccio Gucci to introduce other fabrics in the composition of the products, such as raffia, wicker, wood, linen and jute. The rombi motif, a Gucci signature, was created. The Guccis developed a new tanning technique to produce " cuoio grasso", which became a Gucci trademark. In 1937, Gucci launched its handbags.
Guccio's wife and children all worked in the shop. Aldo Gucci, the son of Guccio, became increasingly involved in the family company since he started working there in 1925. He convinced his father to grow by opening a new shop in Rome (21 Via Condotti) in 1938, and launched more Gucci accessories (gloves, belts, , keychains). During World War II, the artisans of Gucci worked on making boots for the Italian infantry.
The company made handbags of cotton canvas rather than leather during World War II as a result of material shortages. The canvas, however, was distinguished by a signature double-G symbol combined with prominent red and green bands. After the war, the Gucci crest, which showed a shield and armored knight surrounded by a ribbon inscribed with the family name, became synonymous with the city of Florence.
In 1961, Gucci opened stores in London and Palm Beach, and launched the Gucci Jackie, named after the First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. In March 1963, Gucci opened its first French store near Place Vendôme in Paris. The double-G logo for belt buckles and other accessory decorations was introduced in 1964. The Flora scarf was designed in 1966 by Rodolfo Gucci and Vittorio Accornero for Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco, who became a notable consumer of Gucci products. In October 1968, Gucci opened a store at 347 Rodeo Drive, driving many Hollywood stars to endorse the brand. With the Rodeo Drive opening came the launch of Gucci's first dresses. Gucci's breakthrough in the United States led to its global development in Asia (Tokyo opening in 1972, Hong Kong in 1974) and the Middle East. In Brussels, Aldo's son Roberto piloted the first Gucci franchised store. By 1969, Gucci was managing ten shops in the United States. 84,000 Gucci moccasins were sold in the US alone that year. US President John F. Kennedy called Aldo Gucci the "first Italian ambassador to the United States".
Gucci launched a Rolls-Royce luggage set in 1970 and partnered with American Motors Corporation (AMC) to create the Gucci version of the AMC Hornet that was marketed during the 1971, 1972, and 1973 model years. The Gucci Sportabout wagon became one of the first American cars to offer a special luxury trim package created by a famous fashion designer. Gucci launched Gucci Perfumes (Il Mio Profumo) and its first watch (Model 2000) in 1972, its first franchised store in the US in 1973, and opened the Gucci Galleria in its Beverly Hills store in 1977, a private art gallery adjoined to the store and reserved to premium clients who were given a golden key to access it. From 1978 to 1984 a Miami-based coachbuilder marketed a Gucci edition of the Cadillac Seville sedan (the 1978 model is exhibited at the Gucci Museum). Prices of Gucci products kept going up, the pouch handbag going from $79 in the 1960s to $175 in 1974.
In 1985, the Gucci loafer became part of the permanent collection of the New York Moma.
Despite the family disputes, between 1981 and 1987, the sales of trademarked Gucci products reached $400 million, and $227 million in 1990 alone. The 1980s were characterized by a mass-production of Gucci products (700,000 handbags produced annually), which generated revenue but negatively affected Gucci's position as an exclusive luxury brand. Maurizio Gucci hired Dawn Mello to put Gucci back on tracks.
From 1991 to 1993, Gucci's finances were still in the red. Maurizio Gucci was blamed for spending extravagant amounts of money on the company's headquarters in Florence (Via delle Caldaie palazzo) and in Milan. Investcorp bought the remaining 50% of Guccio Gucci S.p.A. from Maurizio Gucci in 1993, ending the family involvement in the group. In March 1995, Maurizio Gucci was shot dead in the lobby of Gucci's Milan office. His ex-wife Patrizia Reggiani served 16 years in jail for hiring the hitman to murder him.
Dawn Mello hired Tom Ford to oversee the women's ready-to-wear collection. In 1994, Tom Ford was named creative director of Gucci. Ford and Mello revisited the 1970s archives of the brand. Ford's 1995 collection, which included the sensual white dresses with provocative cut-outs, became an instant hit. Revived through the hot-bod hedonism of Tom Ford's creations, Gucci also launched provocative products in limited edition such as silver handcuffs, a G-string and provocative ad campaigns such as the G logo shaved on pubic hair. Domenico De Sole, legal adviser to the Gucci family since the 1980s and CEO of Gucci since 1994, campaigned for Gucci's leather manufacturers in Italy to keep working together and developed a partners' program to strengthen their ties. He reviewed the pricing of each product and gradually raised Gucci's advertising budget from $6 million in 1993 to $70 million in 1997. In October 1995, the company was publicly indexed on the NYSE with an initial stock value set at US$22. Then, from 1995 to 1997, Investcorp sold its interests in Gucci for around US$1.9 billion.
Following Ford's departure, Gucci Group retained three designers to continue the success of the company's flagship label: John Ray, Alessandra Facchinetti and Frida Giannini, all of whom had worked under Ford's creative direction. Facchinetti was elevated to Creative Director of Women's wear in 2004 and designed for two seasons before leaving the company. Ray served as Creative Director of Menswear for three years. Frida Giannini – a Gucci handbag designer since 2002, head of accessories since 2004, and creative director of women's ready-to-wear and accessories since 2005 – was appointed creative director of Gucci in 2006. Elena Guallart, Frida Giannini, jefa en Gucci , Trendencias.com, 1 February 2006 Patrizio di Marco, formerly CEO of Bottega Veneta, was named CEO of Gucci in 2008.Astrid Wendlandt, Italian fashion house Gucci denies ousting CEO , Reuters.com, 17 September 2008 Both acclaimed and criticized for perpetually revisiting Tom Ford's archives, Frida Giannini eventually toned down Ford's explosive 'Porno Chic' props over the years "from sexy to sensual", and started to experiment with 'androgynous Bohemian' styles with a 19th-century reminiscence.Suzy Menkes, Gucci: From Sexy to Sensual , Nytimes.com, 22 February 2012 She also developed "neo-classics" such as the New Bamboo and the New Gucci Jackie.Robb Young, The Guardians of Heritage , Nytimes.com, 8 November 2010 Patrizio di Marco focused on the post-2008 crisis with fewer styles and more midrange products.Catherine Caines, Natasha Silva-Jelly, The new 'it' bag , Smh.com.au, 25 June 2009 In 2010, Gucci launched a partnership with the auction house Christie's to develop a wider repository of the brand's archives and provide an authenticity certification service. In 2011, the company opened the Gucci Museum ( Gucci Museo) in Florence to celebrate its 90th anniversary. Between 2010 and 2015, 220 new Gucci stores opened, bringing the total store count to 500.
Alessandro Michele launched the Renaissance of Gucci. He revived Gucci classics, such as the double-G logo, the Gucci Jackie bag,Emilia Petrarca, Gucci’s Circle of Life , Thecut.com, 20 February 2020 and more; he also created iconic products like the Dionysus handbag. The Dionysus Bag: An Icon For a New Century , Icon-icon.com, 26 July 2017 With a feminized menswear line, a strong feminist stance, and a 'geek-chic' style, Alessandro Michele introduced postgender props for Gucci.Lisa Armstrong, Whatever Happened To Sex In Fashion? Gucci's Alessandro Michele On The Rise Of Geek Chic , Viva.co.nz, 22 November 2019
In September 2016 Gucci inaugurated the Gucci Hub, its new Milan headquarters, built in the former Caproni aeronautical factory. In July 2017, Gucci announced the launch of Gucci Décor, which was the first time the brand tested itself in the Interior design segment. In April 2018, Gucci inaugurated the ArtLab, a 37,000-square-metre center of innovation outside Florence in Italy, where new leather goods and materials, footwear, metal hardware, and packaging are developed and tested. In November 2018, Gucci opened the Gucci Wooster Bookstore in New York, a 2,000-book shop curated by the founder of Dashwood Books David Strettell.Emilia Petrarca, Gucci’s Latest Drop? Books!, Thecut.com, 20 November 2018 In April 2019, the company launched Gucci 9, a 500-employee network of 6 Call centre worldwide for high-end customer service. Gucci also revived its makeup collection and launched its first fine jewelry collection. Gucci unveils its first fine jewelry collection , Vogue.fr, 5 July 2019 In December 2020, following an agreement between Kering and Alibaba, Gucci launched two stores (fashion and beauty) on Tmall. On November 23, 2022, Alessandro Michele left the post of creative director of Gucci.
In January 2023, Sabato de Sarno was appointed creative director of Gucci to "reestablish Gucci's edge" and "restore its brand equity", after the Bizzarri/Michele success had also eroded Gucci's luxury glow. His first collection, dubbed 'Gucci Ancora' (Italian for 'Gucci again') introduced a new It color, the Gucci Rosso Ancora, a velvet burgundy with an oxblood hue. For The New York Times
| + !Year !Revenue (billion €) | |
| 2019 | 9.63 |
| 2020 | 7.4 |
| 2021 | 9.7 |
| 2022 | 10.5 |
| 2023 | 9.9 |
| 2024 | 7.65 |
In 2013, the UK's Intellectual Property Office issued a ruling that Gucci had lost the rights to its GG trademark in the UK "to a version of the GG logo in four categories, which encompassed garments such as bracelets, shoulder bags, scarves and coats". However, "according to Gucci, the ruling does not affect the use of its GG logo in the region" because "Gucci is the owner of several other valid registrations for this mark, including a Community Trade Mark (covering the European Union) for its iconic GG logo and those rights are directly enforceable in the U.K."
In November 2008, the website TheBagAddiction.com was shut down after being sued by Gucci for selling counterfeit products. In 2013, Gucci cracked down on 155 domain names used by counterfeiters to sell fake Gucci products. In 2015, Gucci's parent company Kering sued the Chinese website Alibaba Group for listing a lot of "obviously fake Gucci products" on its website. In April 2016, Gucci's anti-counterfeiting legal actions backfired when the targeted products were papier-mâché shaped exactly like Gucci products and burned by Chinese people during the ancestral Qingming Jie tradition. In April 2017, Gucci won a lawsuit against 89 Chinese websites selling fake Gucci products. In October 2018, Marco Bizzarri warned the Chinese ecommerce giants Alibaba Group and JD.com that Gucci could not open shop on their websites as long as they would not remove the many fake Gucci products out of their listings. In December 2019, Gucci sued three dozen websites selling fake Gucci products. In 2023, Gucci USA filed a lawsuit against Sam's Club, Century 21 and Lord & Taylor for selling counterfeit Gucci products.
In February 2019, Gucci removed a black balaclava sweater with a rollup collar and a cut-out red-lipped mouth from its shelves after it had been compared to a blackface costume (Michele was inspired by Leigh Bowery but still apologized). To address this issue, Gucci launched the 'Gucci North America Changemakers Scholarship' program dedicated to foster diversity within the fashion industry with a $5-million annual fund to support non-profits and community-based programs involved with "the African-American community and communities of color at-large". Two months later, the Sikhs community in India criticized Gucci's cultural appropriation of a religious item when the Italian brand commercialized at $800 apiece.Kimberly Yam, Sikhs Speak Out Against Gucci’s $800 Turban , Huffpost.com, 16 May 2019 Gucci appointed a Global Head of Diversity to address the brand's latest issues with cultural diversity and launched a $1.5-million scholarship program for US students traditionally underrepresented in the fashion industry.
During a September 2019 show that mimicked a défilé of mental patients, catwalk model Ayesha Tan Jones held up her hands on which "mental health is not fashion" was written, a reaction to the brand's inappropriate commercial use of the imagery of mental illness. Kering paid a $1.25 billion tax settlement in Italy following Gucci's 2011–2017 tax irregularities.
In November 2023, in response to Gucci's October decision to move 153 of 219 design employees from Rome to Milan by March 2024, 50 employees went on a one-day strike in the first industrial action against the company in its 102-year history. Trade union representatives said the workers intended to protest throughout the month of November 2023.
In 2025, Gucci was the target of a lawsuit from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals), who had found that pythons used for Gucci products were killed using inhumane methods, such as bludgeoning or inflating with water.[14]
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