Beginning life as a workshop producing riding boots and hand luggage this famous leather goods and fashion accessories firm originated as a leather goods workshop in Florence in 1904. Founded by Guccio Gucci, the first shop opened in 1922. His son, Aldo, moved to New York in 1953 and succeeded in creating new markets for the company’s products, attracting the attention of celebrities such as Audrey Hepburn, Jackie Kennedy, Grace Kelly, and Elizabeth Taylor. In the 1960s the double ‘G’ trademark, designed by Aldo’s son Paolo, soon became a byword for high fashion in both the USA and Europe.
Designer Handbags Gucci
Founded in Florence, Italy, as saddlery shop by Guccio Gucci (1881-1953), 1906, after family millinery business failed.
Company History: Became retailer of accessories, 1923; Gucci shops opened in Florence, 1923; boutiques open in Rome, 1938; firm renamed Societá Anonima Guccio Gucci, 1939; stores opened in Milan, 1951; renamed Guccio Gucci Srl, 1945; New York boutique opened, 1953; opened in Paris, 1963; shop opened in Hong Kong and Gucci Parfums formed, 1975 (renamed Gucci Parfums SpA, 1982); company renamed Guccio Gucci SpA, 1982; appointed Dawn Mello creative director, 1989.
Tom Ford joined company, 1990; acquired by Investcorp, 1993; Mello departed and Ford named creative director, 1994; deaths of Mauritzio and Paolo Gucci, 1995; listed on the NYSE, 1995; rival Prada bought stake, 1998; sold stake to LVMH, 1999; Pinault Printemps Redoute acquired major stake and fought off LVMH, 1999; Alexander McQueen defected from LVMH to Gucci, 2000; hired Stella McCartney to create her own line, 2000; designer Nicolas Ghesquiére came to firm with acquisition of Balenciaga, 2001.
