The early 1970s saw store openings in Tokyo and Hong Kong, but by the late 1980s, Gucci was floundering. In 1953, just 15 days after opening his first store on New York’s 5th Avenue, Guccio passed away at 72. Taking cues from Sandro Botticelli’s Primavera, with its pattern of flora and insects, it was painted entirely by hand and featured no fewer than 37 colors. Then Grace Kelly, on a visit to the boutique in Milan, inspired Rodolfo Gucci to work with Italian illustrator and Gucci textile designer Vittorio Accornero on the Flora print in 1966. After Jackie Kennedy was seen sporting a slouchy Gucci tote in 1961, it was renamed for the First Lady.

In the 1950s, Elizabeth Taylor carried one of Gucci’s bamboo-handled tote bags, another adaptation to material rationing. (No list of revered designer purses would be complete without Gucci.) The material was first used on suitcases before finding enduring popularity on handbags. Its woven hemp fabric from Naples, adorned with the brand’s signature diamond print, was a hit, especially among A-list celebrities. In the mid-1930s, a League of Nations embargo against Italy pushed Gucci to experiment with alternatives to imported leather. In 1938, he brought three of his sons - Aldo, Vasco and Rodolfo - into the business and expanded it to Rome and later Milan.

But as its reputation flourished, particularly among the English aristocracy, so too did its footprint. So, in 1921, after a stint at Franzi, a luggage company in his hometown of Florence, he opened a leather goods shop of his own.Īt first, Gucci’s Florence business specialized in equestrian accessories. Guccio Gucci (1881–1953) admired the stylish suitcases he saw wealthy guests arrive with at the Savoy Hotel in London, where he worked as a bellhop. Today, it’s an internationally renowned luxury house with an iconic logo, and vintage Gucci clothing, handbags and shoes are among high fashion's most covetable goods. Long before trend-bucking creative director Alessandro Michele brought his hallucinatory “Utopian Fantasy” campaign to Gucci, it was a modest Italian leather shop.

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