The golden touch

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Survey after survey concludes that Gucci is considered to be the most coveted luxury brand in the world. Frida Giannini talks Glass through the formidable archives and reveals her mission for the future

“Quality is remembered long after price is forgotten” – this was the motto of former Gucci chairman Aldo Gucci, and it is a motto that permeates the house to this day. As the label’s current Creative Director Frida Giannini explains, “Gucci has always stood for high quality items that stand the test of time” and thanks to her unique talent and vision, the house of Gucci is going from strength to strength. Championing what she describes as “a lighter luxury for modern times” Giannini has placed Gucci firmly into the 21st century, spearheading a wealth of ambitious charitable and environmental initiatives, as well as the launch of a haute couture line (Gucci are the only house expanding into this notoriously costly area), and a children’s collection.

But perhaps the most timely project dear to Giannini’s heart is the opening of the Gucci museum in the brand’s birthplace of Florence, in time for Gucci’s 90th anniversary in 2011. The museum will showcase not only Gucci’s rich archive which Giannini says is “an endless source of my inspiration”, but will also allow a glimpse into the sheer breadth of Gucci’s influence on the fashion and mindset of the 20th century.

The founder of the house of Gucci was the wonderfully-named Guccio Gucci, whose parents ran a struggling straw hat-making business in Florence at the end of the 19th century. When their business eventually went bankrupt, the young Tuscan left home for London in search of a better fortune. There he found a job at the prestigious Savoy Hotel, which then counted some of the world’s most famous and influential personalities among its regular clientele – actress Sarah Bernhardt called it her “second home” while the Prince of Wales’ mistress, the infamous Lillie Langtry, kept a suite there all year round. It would be Gucci’s work at the Savoy which would allow him the opportunity to observe first-hand the tastes and mores of the nobles and upper classes, as well as their piles of fine leather luggage which flowed in and out of the hotel’s lobby. An opportunity which would have a profound impact on the young Guccio and give rise to the house of Gucci.

Gucci returned to Florence, married, and working for various Tuscan leather crafts firms, quickly mastered the various skills of the trade. In 1921, having saved up enough funds, he opened his own store and workshop on the Via della Vigna Nuova, and as a testament to the distinctly English aesthetic Gucci had absorbed in his Savoy days, the shop was introduced in opening advertisements as “Guccio Gucci Valigeria Inglese” (Guccio Gucci’s English suitcases). Due to their high quality and sophisticated design, Guccio’s creations quickly started to attract the attention of a discerning clientele.

One of Gucci’s main and most unique sources of inspiration was the equestrian world: horse bit and stirrup motifs, together with the classic green-red-green web, were born of this influence and would become emblems of the Florentine firm. However, some of Gucci’s greatest innovations came from a more unlikely source. After Mussolini invaded Ethiopia in 1935, the League of Nations decided to impose an international trade embargo on Italy, which meant that Gucci could no longer import all the materials and fine leathers required for his designs.

As a consequence, the difficult years of the Fascist dictatorship were to prove an exceptionally creative period for Italian fashion houses, which had no choice but to completely re-think the way their products were made. Fellow Florentine, Salvatore Ferragamo, created some of his most revolutionary designs during this era. And while shoes made out of everything from twine to cork, sweet wrappers to straw, came flying out of Ferragamo’s workshops, Gucci introduced hemp, linen, jute, raffia, wicker and wood into his bag designs.

The most daring innovation to come out of those difficult years though was undoubtedly the Bamboo Bag. It is not even known exactly who in Gucci’s Florence workshop first had the idea to use bamboo (a material which could then be imported relatively easily from Japan in spite of the embargo) and bend it over a Bunsen burner to turn it into the curved handbag handle, but it would become one of Gucci’s most iconic emblems and was sported by the likes of Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor and Ingrid Bergman, who carried a Gucci bamboo handled bag in Roberto Rossellini’s Voyage to Italy in 1953.

Soon after the end of WWII came a period of expansion. After the privations of the war, people were eager to have fun, show off and regain a much yearned-for luxury. While in Paris this translated into the sweeping success of Christian Dior’s New Look dresses, which used an exuberant amount of material, in Italy it was Gucci’s impeccable craftsmanship and design which satiated the needs of a new aspirational generation.

Gucci opened his first store in Rome in 1938, and soon the crème de la crème of the international jet set, attracted by the Dolce Vita and Roman Holiday fantasies, were flowing into Rome, and into Gucci’s shop. Princess Elizabeth (soon to become the Queen of England) visited the shop, as did the future Mrs John F Kennedy and many of the world’s most famous actresses: Claudia Cardinale, Katharine Hepburn, Sophia Loren, Bette Davis, and many others. The ultimate Dolce Vita icon, Anita Ekberg, even visited the shop while filming La Dolce Vita with Federico Fellini in 1960, and Fred Astaire donned a pair of Gucci moccasins to dance with Audrey Hepburn in ‘Funny Face’ in 1957. Gucci was everywhere.

All the while, the house never ceased to innovate, creating the famous Flora print in 1966. Drawn from a variety of flowering plants and insects and originally conceived as silk scarf for Grace Kelly, the print was realised in 37 colours as a single design and became another of Gucci’s house codes.

Following the golden era of the ’60s and ’70s, the ’80s brought a period of relative decline for Gucci. The house became deeply troubled, with family infighting causing scandalous headlines, and mass expansion tarnishing the brand’s image; the house was almost brought to its knees. Following a dramatic family feud it fell to Guccio’s grandsons to end the quarrelling that had so nearly destroyedthe brand, and in 1994 they sought outside help to restore Gucci’s good name. Enter Tom Ford.

Ford quickly proved his talent and was entrusted with more and more responsibilities. Soon he was single-handedly designing every single one of Gucci’s lines (clothing, footwear, bags and accessories, luggage, etc.) His March 1995 collection for Gucci was the turning point. When asked what she was wearing following her huge success at the ’95 MTV awards, Madonna simply uttered three magic words: “Gucci, Gucci, Gucci.” According to Ford, this “started it all”. Harper’s Bazaar fawned over the collection’s “effortless sexuality” and it hailed the beginning of a dramatic new era of style for Gucci, one that was to take the label in a more adventurous direction. “Too much good taste can be dull,” Ford said, “I pushed Gucci as far as I could.” Tom Ford did just that – push Gucci – towards a sexy and provocative dimension.

In 2002, Ford selected young Roman-born designer Frida Giannini to assume the position of Handbag Design Director, a role created specifically for her. By 2006 Giannini was sole Creative Director.

Having grown up in Italy, the Gucci brand was very much part of Frida Giannini’s universe and personal memories – she recalls how much her mother used to love the Flora print as a young girl in Rome, and how this inspired her to resurrect and rework the print on a range of Gucci accessories, which became instant bestsellers.

“Gucci has such a rich archive that I have been lucky enough to delve into and use as inspiration”, she explains, “I am constantly thinking of new ways to reinterpret the House’s most iconic pieces – from the New Bamboo and New Jackie bags to playing with the GG logo or horse bit hardware.”

And her favourite piece from the Gucci archives? “I adore the new line of handbags for this season, the Gucci 1973. All the bags are distinguished by a GG logo that was designed in 1973. It’s very stylised and cool, and the shiny gold metal gives a nice touch of glamour.”

But while she draws inspiration from the fascinating 90-year history of the brand, Frida Giannini’s talent lies in her ability to bring all those traditions into a decidedly contemporary context. “What has perhaps been the secret of Gucci’s success through the years and on such an international level”, Giannini explains, “is its unique duality combining heritage with innovation.” A quest for innovation that is taking Gucci to new territories, such as China, where Gucci has enjoyed a rapturous reception. “I can see the ‘opportunity’ in China through its energy. Chinese people have great enthusiasm for fashion and style and are excited to explore new directions in fashion. At the same time they are very much interested in the history of a house like Gucci and are curious to understand this duality of heritage and innovation. China also brings about an attractive challenge, due to the vastness of the country and how we must be creative and entrepreneurs in order to reach all the different and various cities.”

Giannini is also deeply concerned with the most pressing issues facing luxury brands today, those of social responsibility and preserving the environment. Gucci has recently revealed a series of innovative eco-friendly initiatives. For instance, Gucci packaging has been redesigned using only 100 per cent recyclable paper – a project which “proves that you sacrifice nothing creatively when working with environmentally friendly materials,” Giannini proudly explains, “the new packaging is very beautiful and I believe we have a collective responsibility towards future generations to minimise our impact on the environment.”

Giannini has also been a leading force behind many of Gucci’s charitable activities, such as their active collaboration with UNICEF (supported by Gucci aficionados Madonna and Rihanna) and with PPR’s (Gucci’s parent company) foundation for women’s dignity and rights. “I personally feel that it is our duty as a global luxury goods company to give back in some way. We have had huge success and we have been very fortunate,” she explains. “Our company has an incredible visibility and a very high profile around the world – using this visibility to help change the world, and to help children in need, is not only a privilege for me, but also a duty. We all need to help where we can. And Gucci can. So can I. I was recently in Malawi,” she continues, ”to visit the schools and families that we have helped through our continuous collaboration with UNICEF, and even though there is still much to be done, those radiant smiles have given me hope.” And giving her own thoughtful and generous definition of this issue’s theme, ‘promise’, she concludes, “Children are the future and when I see them smiling, for me it is always a great promise.”

by Adélia Sabatini

All images courtesy of Gucci

Taken from the Glass archive – Issue Three – Promise

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