Gucci history, profile and history video
Gucci is a luxury fashion house based in Florence, Italy. It specializes in handbags, gifts, clothing, footwear, accessories, jewelry, watches, makeup, fragrances, and home decoration products.
Gucci is part of the French luxury group Kering, which manages the development of a series of renowned Houses in Fashion, Leather Goods, Jewellery, and Watches.
Gucci was founded by Guccio Gucci in 1921 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy.
In 1925, Aldo Gucci (son of Guccio Gucci) started working in the family company, and under its direction, the company became an icon of the Italian ”Dolce Vita” (”a life of heedless pleasure and luxury”).
During WWII, the artisans of the company worked on making boots for the Italian infantry.
In 1982, to ease tensions in the family, the Gucci group became a publicly traded company, Guccio Gucci SpA.
In 1988, Maurizio Gucci sold 47.8% of Gucci to the investment fund Investcorp (owner of Tiffany since 1984).
In 1993, Investcorp bought the remaining 50% of Guccio Gucci S.p.A. from Maurizio Gucci, and the Gucci family involvement in the group was ended.
After the family crisis, the brand was revived with provocative ‘Porno Chic’ props.
Since 1996, the French luxury conglomerate LVMH bought shares of Gucci, and it reached 34% ownership in Gucci Group NV by January 1999.
In March 1999, the French conglomerate Pinault Printemps Redoute (PPR) bought out 40% of Gucci at $75 a share, and LVMH’s shares decreased to 20.7% in a dilution process. Through the deal, PPR also purchased Yves Saint Laurent from Sanofi and sold it back for the same price to the Gucci Group.
Marco Bizzarri is CEO of Gucci since December 2014, and Alessandro Michele creative director since January 2015.
With more than 17 000 employees and over 485 stores, Gucci is considered one of the world’s most desirable fashion houses. According to Forbes, it is considered one of the Worlds Most Valuable Brands.
*Information from Forbes.com, Wikipedia.org, and www.gucci.com.
**Video published on YouTube by “Alux.com“.