The Turbulent and Exciting History of Gucci

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In 2010,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Gucci is one of the top luxury fashion brands in the world. The official name of the
company is "The House of Gucci" since it is one of the famous Italian fashion houses. However,
[link widoczny dla zalogowanych] is actually owned by a french conglomerate called Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR). The
founder of the brand was Guccio Gucci who founded the brand in Florence,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Italy in 1921. The brand
is most famous for Italian fashion and leather products. One thing that sets Gucci aside from
other brands is that is the top selling Italian brand in the world.
The story of the brand is an interesting and turbulent one since its humble beginnings in 1921.
Guccio Gucci in 1921,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], it wasnt until 1938 that [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] expanded out of Florence and opened a new
boutique in Rome. When Gucci died in 1953,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], he left his fashion empire to his 4 sons. His son Aldo
was central to the brands expansion into the world market since he opened the first Gucci
boutique in New York. Further expansion,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], into Hong Kong and Tokyo occurred in the 1960s where
[link widoczny dla zalogowanych] was creating their own trends via celebrities like Jackie Kennedy,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Grace Kelly, etc.
However, during this time the family was in constant in-fighting. Reports at the time suggested
the family fought during board meetings about inheritance, stock holdings,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], and how to operate the
company.
The company hit a terrible rough patch in the 1970s and leading into the 1980s. At that time the
brothers Rodolfo and Aldo controlled the company with equal shares. This occurred once again, due
to complicated family fights. The company launched their accessories and perfume division and
began to wholesale aggressively in order to expand that division. Aldo had developed that
division and his intention was to focus on it in order to weaken the control of his brother
Rodolfo. The perfume division was priced cheaper than other products and aggressive wholesaling
made it available for sale in over 1000 stores. The result was the brand image was severely
tarnished. The public now viewed [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] as a cheap airport brand and not an exclusive luxury
brand. Furthermore at the same time, widespread [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] knock-offs started to appear on the market
further weakening the brands image.
In 1983,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], the company was suffering financially and in brand image. Paolo [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] (son of Aldo)
proposed the idea of launching a cheap version of Gucci called [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] Plus, the idea was not well
accepted by the family. During a Gucci boardroom meeting about this issue Paolo was knocked out
by an answering machine to the the face,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], by one of his brothers. For revenge, he reported his
father to the United States authorities for tax evasion. His father was convicted of tax evasion
and sent to prison after his son testified against him in court. These stories generated more
interest in the Gucci family,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], then the brand's advertising could possibly achieve at the time.
Rodolfo died in 1983. This resulted in changes in the power structure of the company (family).
His son Maurizio Gucci inherited his 50% share of the Gucci company. Aldo's son Paolo along with
Maurizio teamed together to take control of the Board of Directors. Shortly after, the rest of
the family left the company. This led Mauricio to seek help and ideas from outside the company in
order to strengthen the brand and the company and operate peacefully.
[link widoczny dla zalogowanych] became one of the companies strong points. Gucci found following the disasters of the
1970s and 1980s that a return to its roots as an elite Italian fashion house was a must. They
realized that it was impossible to be both a mass production brand and a luxury brand. The
leather goods like [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] had given the company its name in the 1920s and 1930s and they
felt they needed to focus their efforts on fashion innovations in those areas. Furthermore, in
1997 Gucci took over Severin-Montres and rebranded it under the Gucci name. The watchmaker was
one of the most respected in Europe at the time and contributed to [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]s goals of maintaining
their prestige and elite image amongst fashion conscious and wealthy consumers.