Gucci – the brand originating in Florence, Italy and founded in 1920 by Guccio Gucci. With the first store opening in 1921 on Via Vigna Nuova and then later on Via del Parione, The House of Gucci was born. Gucci specialised in leather and accessories, inspired by his days working within luxury hospitality at the Savoy, London.
TIMELINE
1920s Guccio Gucci opens his first store in Florence.
1936 The first signature Gucci print is invented, using new imported materials as opposed to leather goods, as a result of political rifts in Italy.1930s An equestrian-inspired line launches with resounding success leading Guccio Gucci to create his unique horse bit icon.
1938 A Gucci store comes to Rome on Via Condotti
1940s Leather is in short supply as a result of the League of Nations’ embargo on Italy’s Fascist dictatorship and due to the war. Gucci uses alternatives usually linen and bamboo - then Gucci Bamboo bag was born.
1951 Gucci’s son Rodolfo opens the first store in Milan, on Via Montenapoleone. The signature red and green becomes the hallmark colours of Gucci.
1953 Guccio Gucci dies aged 72 just 15 days after the opening of the New York, Savoy Plaza Hotel. His sons Aldo, Vasco, Ugo and Rodolfo take over. The equestrian line is expanded and developed.
1955 Gucci house crest, the intertwined double G’s becomes a registered trademark. This is added to all leather goods along with the first pieces of clothing.
1960’s Gucci moves its New York store to Fifth Avenue next to The St. Regis Hotel. Stores also open in Florida, London & Beverly Hills. Jackie Kennedy Onassis wears the Gucci shoulder bag, which becomes known, as the ‘Jackie O' bag.
1970s The first Gucci perfumeis created. Stores open in Paris, Beverly Hills, Hong Kong and Tokyo.The fashion department of Gucci increases – another store open in New York specifically for clothing.
1980s Gucci ready-to-wear collection is shown for the first time at the Florentine fashion shows with great success. The company faces issues regarding family arguments, tax evasion, poor management, all which affected the company reputation and profit.
1990s Tom Ford becomes responsible for all womenswear before later becoming Creative Director.
2000s Gucci appoints bag designer Friday Giannini head of womenswear, later she becomes creative director of Gucci.
2010s - Present. Gucci's 90th Anniversary, creative director Giannini collaborates with Fiat introducing the 'Fiat 500' and also the ‘Riva Aquariva by Gucci’ comes out. Giannini steps down from her position and Alessandro Michelle is appointed as Creative Director.
THE EVOLUTION OF BAGS
Jackie O Bag
Made famous by former first lady Jackie Onassis Kennedy, for the most prestigious and professional woman. The bag consists of a mixture of reliability and class, with a sturdy O shaped handle, thick leather and decorated with gold hardware. An absolute favourite for 1960’s Gucci.
The Boston Bag
Made with the classic Gucci web colours and the double G interlocking logo. One of the most recognisable and also one of the biggest inspirations for modern day Gucci bag designs. This Barrel bag is spacious and versatile for both women and men to use – coming with top handles, shoulder strap and a zip fastening.
The Hysteria Bag
Know for its unique shape and folded leather. The bag features a strong sense of identity with the plated logos planted just beneath the straps of the bag. This particular design is extremely spacious inside, it can carry just about anything. Its very vintage in styling and can't be seen very often.
The Sukey Bag
Extremely hard to miss, this bag always features the double G interlock print with top handles. It is the ultimate bag to advertise Gucci, as the logo is absolutely everywhere.
The Bamboo Bag
The Bamboo Top Handle bags originated in 1947 and are still in production today. Bamboo became popular during the war as it was one of the only materials that could be easily imported into Italy. Princess Diana was one of the most notable figures known to be a huge fan of the Gucci Bamboo handle bag.
Since Alessandro Michele was appointed creative director of Gucci we have seen a sudden surge of bold and bright colours along with some extremely new neon age styling and deco for campaigns, shoots and collections. Michele is somewhat quirkier than Giannini and this is really coming into fruition with what we are seeing.
Michelle has made a significant effort to incorporate classic Gucci motifs such as flora and fauna, into every collection that comes out.
Michelle loves the combination of street style and couture, he quotes for Vogue "I think the mix of these two can create something new. When I go to New York and London, I love to see how very brave the young people are - they have no rules". We can see that Gucci has a new sense of fearlessness and creativity - along with the influential celebrities that are using Gucci for street style. Although Gucci still do classic luxury and couture, they are now including amazing embellishments, with a new sense of business and bustle being explored. Gucci has certainly become more artistic with the new creative director.
Since Michelle, Gucci has made a point with cultural references incorporated into looks and accessories. With pieces inspired by Italian Renaissance Art,Ancient China, patterns from India - Gucci has moved towards fashion fantasy.
Gucci have hit the ground running with the new bags that have come out recently we are in love with the new styles:
Blooms
Absolute femininity with this beautiful print from Gucci. Each bag comes with a uniquely placed print of floral sprouts in light, pastel colours.
Tian
In front of the classic double G print is an accumulation of colourful plants and birds inspired by 18th century Chinese landscapes depicted on artwork and screens.
Marmont
The Gucci Marmont is the IT bag right now. This campaign was shot in Toyko for Autumn/Winter 2016 inpsired by the film 'Lost In Translation'. All the shots from this campaign feature meaningful quotes from the film. The quotes are a cohesive bond between the emotive atmosphere and the youthful feel of the designs.
Shop the Marmont collectionat Bagista
Sylvie
The Sylvie is the most elegant modern day bag from Gucci collection Spring /Summer 2017. In the future we can see Sylvie bags becoming a timeless piece for Gucci.
