If we talk about some of the finest luxury brands in the world, Gucci comes up first in our mind. There has to be something that makes Gucci so special. Whether it’s the immaculate artistry of their products or the luxury image that the global brand provides, Gucci has been dominating the fashion industry for more than a decade now. And thanks to their founder, Guccio Gucci, his brand is now a global success. But sunshine doesn’t come up skipping the night sky. Gucci had to go past many different obstacles to show his talent in invention and designing.
Born on 26 March,1881, in Florence, Italy, Guccio Gucci belonged to a Tuscan family. During that period, economic conditions for the middle-class families were brutal as the Italian mafia and global politics haunted their lives miserably. His father abandoned him, so he went to London by ship looking for a job. FInally he found one, in a hotel in London as a janitor. After working for quite some time, he became a lift operator which was run by electricity. It was the very first hotel to have such a lift.
During that time, many luxurious people used to live in that hotel. As a lift operator, Gucci had to interact with a lot of them throughout his working period. He tried to learn their taste of fashion and comprehended the products that they used like fashion bags, shoes, purses, caps, outfits etc. Like this, he had a handful of knowledge about the culture of luxury and tried to do something of his own brand of fashionable luxury. So he left his job and worked for a shop which used to create products out of leather.
Working there, he learnt even more about the customer’s taste and tried to innovate new products and designs. After coming back to Florence, he got married and started his own fashion shop by the persuasion of his wife. He named it ‘Gucci’. For the first couple of days, Gucci’s business faced tremendous losses and went on to become bankrupt multiple times. But Gucci never gape up and he learnt from his mistakes, Finally his products came into the limelight by some innovative shoe products that he made, which was very unique and new to the fashion market. People in Florence were excited to buy those and as days went by, that product became very fashionable. People got more interested in Gucci’s business and finally Gucci had the attention that he deserved so much.
Business was going so well that after a couple of months, Gucci had to open shops in different Italian cities including Rome; consequently making his business ventures abroad like the US. Gucci became the very first Italian fashion designer brand in the US. Gucci became so famous that public figures like Queen Elizabeth and Frank Sinatra became its very regular customers. But before becoming a global brand, Guccio Gucci had passed away and the responsibility went on to his son’s shoulders.
There have been many controversies regarding the Gucci family business, but Gucci kept on dominating the fashion industry as a pioneer of Italian luxury. Guccio Gucci is often recognized as one of the finest fashion innovators of all time and his work has truly shaped the world’s taste in fashion and the idea of Italian luxury. Behind all his works, his lessons, ups-&-downs and creativity had paid off very well.
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Writer :
Abrar Bin Naser
Intern,
Content Writing Department,
YSSE