Like many other high-fashion companies, Gucci began as a small, family-owned saddlery and leather goods store. Guccio Gucci was the son of an Italian merchant from the country’s northern manufacturing region. As a young man, he traveled to Paris and London, where he gained an appreciation of cosmopolitan culture, sophistication, and aesthetics. Gucci opened his first boutique in the family’s native Florence in 1921 and quickly built a reputation for quality, hiring the best craftsmen he could find to work in his atelier. In 1938, Gucci expanded and a boutique was opened in Rome. Guccio was responsible for designing many of the company's most notable products. In 1947, Gucci introduced the bamboo handle handbag, which is still a company mainstay. During the 1950s, Gucci also developed the trademark striped webbing, which was derived from the saddle girth, and the suede moccasin with a metal bit. In 1947, the immediately recognizable Gucci icon, the leather bag with bamboo handle (still a company mainstay), was created. During the 1950s, the trademark red striped webbing was introduced, taken from its original form place on a saddle girth. This became an emblem much as the leather moccasin with leather bit. Guccio Gucci created many of his classics early during the 1950’s; products such as luggage, ties, shoes, and the famous handbags sporting the bamboo handle. After his death in 1953, his family was able to take the enormously successful company to new heights by opening stores in Paris, Beverly Hills, London, Palm Beach, and Tokyo. The 1960’s brought increased fame to the Gucci Empire, as Hollywood stars as Grace Kelly, Peter Sellers, and Audrey Hepburn made the name Gucci synonymous with chic. Jackie Kennedy helped by being photographed with the Gucci shoulder bag, which subsequently became known as the Jackie-O. Gucci continues to be at the center of chic and now commands a varied line of products including leather fashions, perfumes, colognes, cosmetics, shoes (including the moccasin with the distinctive Gucci snaffle-bit), the "Flora" foulard created for Grace Kelly by Rodolfo Gucci, suitcases, watches, jewelry, silk scarves, sports articles, belt clasps (the one with the Guccio Gucci initials, was introduced 1964), ties, and eyeglasses. |
