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Gucci

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Gucci ( / ˈ ɡ uː tʃ i / , GOO -chee ; Italian pronunciation:  ˈɡuttʃi ) is a luxury brand of fashion house based in Florence, Italy. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, shoes and accessories, makeup, fragrances, and home decoration. Gucci was founded in 1921 by Guccio Gucci in Florence, Tuscany. Under the direction of Aldo Gucci (son of Guccio), Gucci became a worldwide-known brand, an icon of the Italian Dolce Vita . 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 with a provocative 'Porno Chic' props. In 1999, Gucci was acquired by the French conglomerate Pinault Printemps Redoute. During the 2010s, Gucci became an iconic 'Geek-Chic' brand. In 2019, Gucci operated 487 stores for 17,157 employees, and generated €9.628 billion in sales (€8.2 billion in 2018). Marco Bizzarri is CEO of Gucci since December 2014, and Alessandro Michele creative d

History

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1921 birth in Florence The Gucci family claims its origins are rooted in the merchant city of Florence since around 1410. Guccio Giovanbattista Giacinto Dario Maria Gucci (1881-1953) left Florence for Paris, and settled in London in 1897 to work at the high-end Savoy Hotel. While working as a bellhop there, he would load/unload the luggage of the hotel's wealthy clients, learning about their tastes in fashion, quality, fabrics, traveling conditions... Then he worked 4 years for the Compagnie des Wagons-Lits, the European rail company that specialized in upscale travel leisure, thus further enhancing his experience with luxurious traveling lifestyles. After WWI, he worked for the maker of fine luggage Franzi. In 1921, Guccio Gucci bought his own shop on 7, 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

Description

Gucci is a luxury fashion house that manufactures handbags, ready-to-wear, shoes, and accessories (including jewelry and watches). Gucci also produces makeup and fragrances as well as developing a home decoration division (Gucci Décor). Gucci's holding company Guccio Gucci S.p.A. is based in Florence, Italy, and is a subsidiary of the French luxury group Kering. In 2018, Gucci operated 540 stores for 14,628 employees. The company generated €9.628 billion in revenue (€8.2 billion in 2018), and €3,947 billion in profits (€3.2 billion in 2018).

Governance

In the history of Gucci, up until the end of the Gucci family era, the design, promotion and production of Gucci products were handled by the members of the Gucci family. CEO Since 2014: Marco Bizzarri 2008-2014: Patrizio di Marco 2004-2008: Mark Lee 1994-2004: Domenico De Sole Creative designers Since 2015: Alessandro Michele 2006-2015: Frida Giannini 1995-2004: Tom Ford 1989-1995: Dawn Mello

Initiatives

Culture In 2011, the company opened the Gucci Museum ( Gucci Museo ) inside the 14th-century Palazzo della Mercanzia in Florence to celebrate its 90th anniversary. In 2016, Alessandro Michele curated two additional rooms dedicated to Tom Ford's collections. In January 2018, following a renovation, the Gucci Museum reopened with a new name, the Gucci Garden , and a new restaurant within its walls, the Gucci Osteria , managed by Massimo Bottura. The Gucci Osteria was awarded one Michelin star in November 2019. In February 2020, a second Gucci Osteria opened on the rooftop of the Gucci Rodeo Drive store in Los Angeles. In April 2017, Gucci financed the restoration of the Boboli Gardens at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. In June 2019, Gucci financed the restoration of the historic Rupe Tarpea and Belvedere Gardens in Rome. Social In 2008, Gucci launched the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund, an $80,000 fund to finance movies promoting social change and presented at the Tribeca Film Festi

In popular culture

Eponymous adjective The name "Gucci" turned into an eponymous adjective, "I feel Gucci!" and "That’s so Gucci!", to describe something that feels like the high-flying luxury of Gucci. The earliest known instance of the word being used in this sense is found in the September 1999 issue of Harper's Bazaar , in which singer Lenny Kravitz describes his bedroom as "very Gucci." Movies In November 2019, the movie director Ridley Scott announced making a movie about the Gucci dynasty, with Lady Gaga playing Patrizia Reggiani. Ridley Scott had already announced this plan in 2007 with Angelina Jolie in the role of Patrizia Reggiani. In 2000, Martin Scorsese had also announced plans to make a movie about the Gucci family. Guinness World Records 1974: The Model 2000 Gucci watch broke the record for selling more than one million units in two years. 1998: The Gucci "Genius Jeans" broke the record of the most expensive pair of jeans ever. These

Counterfeiting

During the 1970s, the explosive popularity of Gucci turned the brand into a prime target of the counterfeiting industry. The Gucci workshops elaborated the brindle pigskin tanning technique that became a Gucci signature, and a tanning process difficult to counterfeit. In 1977 alone, Gucci launched 34 lawsuits for counterfeiting. By the mid-1980s, the brand was involved in « thousands of confiscations and lawsuits all over the world ». On 5 November 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 th

Controversies

In April 2016, the UK's Advertising Standards Authority banned a Gucci online video ad because it starred an "unhealthily thin" model. 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. Alessandro Michele responded that his inspiration came from the flamboyant Leigh Bowery but apologized for the way it had been interpreted. 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". In May 2019, the Sikhs community in India criticized Gucci's cultural appropriation of a religious item when the Italian brand commercialized turbans at $800 apiece. In July 2019, Gucci appoin

Bibliography

Forden, Sara G. (2001). The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed . Custom House. ISBN  978-0060937751 . Gucci, Patricia (2016). In the Name of Gucci: A Memoir . Crown Archetype. ISBN  978-0804138932 . Gucci, Jenny (2008). Gucci Wars: How I Survived Murder and Intrigue at the Heart of the World's Biggest Fashion House . John Blake. ISBN  978-1844545322 .