Gucci Perfume

Guccio Gucci was born in 1881, the son of an Italian merchant. The House of Gucci began as a small family owned leather saddlery shop in Florence in 1906. His talent was craftsmanship in leather goods, and he sold leather bags to horsemen throughout the 1920’s, moving on to luxury luggage as transportation evolved to horseless carriages. He had spent some years working in London’s Savoy hotel, and had absorbed the refined aesthetic of the English nobility. He quickly built up a reputation for quality, and hired the best master craftsmen he could find.

Within a few years, the company attracted a sophisticated international clientele who sought out the equestrian inspired collection of bags, trunks, belts, gloves and shoes. The horsebit and stirrup motifs born from this era have become enduring symbols of the Gucci Empire.

In 1938 Gucci expanded and opened a boutique in Rome. During the 1940’s and Italian fascist dictatorship, the company faced a shortage of standard materials and was forced to be creative with what was available. In 1947, Gucci introduced the bamboo handle handbag, and became the first of his iconic products. It is still available today, and a favourite amongst royalty and celebrities alike.

During the 1950’s, the trademark green, red, green web, which is derived from the saddle girth, became a huge success and remains a leading identifier of the brand. Stores opened up in Milan and New York and Gucci was on his way to building up an international presence synonymous with modern luxury.

Gucci and his wife Aida Calvelli had 6 children, and the sons, Vasco, Aldo, Ugo, and Rodolfo would play an important role in the running of the company. In 1953, Guccio Gucci died, and his sons took over the running of the company, propelling it into international prominence with the opening of stores in London, New York and Paris.

Throughout the 1960’s Gucci continued to produce iconic products such as the Gucci shoulder bag loved by Jackie Kennedy, which is today known as the “Jackie O”. Other celebrities such as Peter Sellers, Liz Taylor and Samuel Beckett wore the unisex Hobo shoulder bag, and a floral silk scarf was created for Grace Kelly. This decade also saw the moccasin with horsebit hardware become a permanent part of the collection at the Costume Institute, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It was also during the sixties that the legendary interlocking double G logo was first used.

The early seventies saw Gucci expand into the Far East, opening stores in Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Gucci remained one of the premier luxury goods establishments in the world until the late 1970s, when a series of disastrous business decisions and family quarrels brought the company to the verge of bankruptcy. At the time, brothers Aldo and Rodolfo controlled equal 50% shares of the company.

In 1979, Aldo developed the Gucci Accessories Collection, or GAC, intended to bolster the sales for the Gucci Parfums sector, which his sons controlled. GAC consisted of small accessories, such as cosmetic bags, lighters, and pens, which were considerably lower in price than the other items in the company’s accessories catalogue. Aldo relegated control of Parfums to his son Roberto in an effort to weaken Rodolfo’s control of the overall operations of the company.

Rodolfo’s death in 1983 caused a major shakeup in the company when he left his 50% stake in Gucci to his son, Maurizio Gucci. Maurizio allied with Aldo’s son Paolo to gain control of the Board of Directors and established the Gucci Licensing division in the Netherlands. Following the decision, the rest of the family left the company and, for the first time in years, one man was at the helm of Gucci.

Maurizio sought to bury the fighting that had torn the company and his family apart and turned to talent outside of the company for Gucci’s future. In the 1990’s Gucci was relaunched to global renown. Tom Ford became creative director in 1994, and Domenico De Sole was appointed CEO in 1995, and Gucci became a fully public company. In 1998, Gucci was named European Company of the year, by the European Business Press federation. The following year, Gucci entered into an alliance with Pinault-Printemps-Redoute and was transformed from a single brand company into a multibrand group.

2004 saw Ford and De Sole leave their posts and Mark Lee was appointed president and CEO of Gucci division in 2005. Today, Gucci’s creative direction is the responsibility of Frieda Gianni, and an original heat printed signature leather- La Pelle Guccissima, has been launched. This is destined to become the label’s next icon, with its superior workmanship and impeccable quality synonymous with Gucci.