It is truly amazing that two most successful worldwide accessories brands were founded as saddlery shops! Like Hermes, Gucci was once a saddlery shop, opened in Florence, Italy, in 1906 by Guccio Gucci. When the family millinery business failed, Gucci became a retailer of accessories. After World War II Florence-based Gucci expanded greatly, producing clothing (1953), perfume (1975), scarves and other accessories.
The famous Gucci logo – double “G” – was also created after World War II, when the shortage of leather inspired Gucci to use bold red and green canvas stripes on suitcases, bags, and wallets. These stripes became one of the world’s most copied trademarks, along with Louis Vuitton brown canvas. Gucci became a status symbol of its own, and the famous Gucci loafer with shining trim brought Gucci a fortune and even turned into a subject of jokes in the late 1970s.
Gucci lost some of its luxurious charm due to the rivalry between Gucci family members and their legal battles in 1980s. The restoration of the image began in 1989 when an American designer Dawn Mello became a creative director of a venerable company. In 1994, Gucci relocated its offices from Florence to Milan, and Mello left Gucci for Bergdorf Goodman. Same year, Tom Ford came to Gucci.
Before Ford, Gucci never had a significant ready-to-wear collection. The very first Ford’s collection for Gucci was an instant hit. From pubic-bone baring cutouts at slinky jersey dresses in1996 to demure velvet suits, from lavish to snakeskin sandal, followed by beaded jeans, à la Sonny and Cher and $75 condom cases in swirling blue-green prints, Tom Ford defined seasonal trends bringing back the tasteful lavishness fashion was about to forget. Every Gucci piece was a must-have.
A clever marketer, Tom Ford was meticulously carving Gucci’s sexy image and personalized it to the maximum. Each time Tom Ford appeared on a runway in a final bow after another successful (sex-essful?) Gucci show, we all remembered he does not wear underwear under his jeans.
What Ford did for Gucci, season after season, was constantly bringing up sex—in your face sex. When the fashion world played with structured handbags and tweedy pencil skirts, Ford shaved a tidy G into a model’s pubic hair for an ad campaign.
Now that Ford left bound for destinations unknown (Versace? Hollywood? He recently announced that he was quitting fashion to direct movies), Gucci under management of new owners, PPR replaced him with a group of virtually unknown designers. Will they fit into Tom Ford’s shoes and keep Gucci on top of fashion pyramid? Time will show.
Natalie Bauer
Gucci in Toronto:
130 Bloor St West
M5S 1N5 Toronto ON
(416)963-5127
Gucci 
