Counting on the fingers of one hand, Gucci is one of the top five most famous luxury fashion brands in the world. The brand built its popularity on producing unparalleled luxury fashion items that command people’s admiration, reverence, and interest from far and wide.
As fascinating as this is, Gucci’s story transcends being a fashion brand. It involves the dreams of its founder, his enduring legacy, and the quality of the brand’s numerous productions spanning decades. An excellent way to appreciate the brand is to recount its history to see how the iconic brand became a force of reckoning in the fashion industry.
You’ll find here the history of the brand, features of its brand image, rise to prominence, and family feuds. You’ll also discover the founders’ personalities and the brand’s current status at the helm of affairs.
History of Gucci – The Iconic Fashion Brand
Gucci is a giant fashion brand that produces high-quality, luxurious fashion items. While that’s what the brand is today, Gucci, like many other luxury brands, had humble beginnings. Simply put, Gucci was an equestrian accessories brand before it became a giant fashion house. How did that happen?
The story of Gucci started with its founder, Guccio Gucci, who founded the brand in 1921 in Florence, Italy. But before that time, Guccio Gucci worked as a luggage porter in what may qualify as a 5-star hotel today (Savoy Hotel, London).
While working in the fancy hotel open to the wealthiest individuals in society, Guccio Gucci realized what people in the highest societal class looked for in luxury items. He saw the class he could make his first consumer. Then, he returned to Florence to learn about leather craftsmanship before opening his brand to sell leather goods to the wealthy Italian upper class.
With Gucci’s efforts and his sons’ contributions, the brand enjoyed spells of success and popularity. With the shortages of materials to work on, the brand eventually morphed into selling alternative materials. Over time, the brand became reputable for producing and selling fashion items. Guccio Gucci took the initiative to leave his GG signature on them, which has remained popular.
It’s great that the company has prioritized quality since its founding.
That’s probably why they’ve gained so much trust and gained so much popularity.
Succession Disputes Within the Gucci Family
As you can confirm from the brand’s history, Gucci’s trajectory is admirable. However, the brand faced so many issues after Guccio Gucci passed. Some issues included declining sales, tarnished brand image, and proliferation of counterfeit products.
While these issues landed several blows on the brand’s smooth run until that point, Gucci’s biggest challenge was the family feud. The family was divided across many fronts, including who to and how to run the business. This went on for a while, leading to numerous court battles.
It got so messy that the feud degenerated into accusations of embezzlement, fraud, and murder. This took a significant toll on the company’s business operations because the people who occupied management positions were tussling it out in court, neglecting the business. There was no strategy for growth or expansion til the brand’s fortune started declining.
The brand’s reputation declined and was almost irredeemable before Maurizio Gucci, Guccio Gucci’s grandson, decided to sell in 1993 to Investcorp. After that, PPR, a French group now called Kering, bought the brand. Since PPR took over under the leadership of Tom Ford, the brand has enjoyed long spells of success that have taken it back to the summit of luxury brands.
Today, the brand is one of the most popular luxury brands worldwide. Alessandro Michelle is the brand’s creative director, offering excellent fashion ideas that retain tradition and embrace innovation to appeal to young and old clients.
You can see the commitment of Guccio Gucci since its founding.
There have been several crises in the management of the brand, but we have overcome them and continued to build trust.
The Gucci Signature and Its Notable Features
Gucci is easily the most distinctive luxury brand, thanks to its signature logo. You can quickly notice the logo because it features the big GG initial at the center and around the brand’s fashion items. As you may have guessed, the GG initial was derived from the founder’s name – Guccio Gucci.
The letters in the initials symbolize authority, grandeur, heritage, sophistication, and veracity. These themes resonate in the brand’s products, making them a force of reckoning in the global fashion industry. The Gucci signature has undergone a series of evolutions since its first creation before it became what it is today.
In 1921, the company’s logo was a simple design with the founder’s name. It remained the same for two years before it was changed in 1923 to a stylish hand-lettering brand name logo. This remained the logo for a few more years before it changed to the hotel porter logo.
The portal logo looks like a crest with an elegant hotel porter at the center, holding one suitcase in each hand. On top of the crest-like logo, it reads ‘Gucci.’ Fast forward to the 60’s, the company recreated the logo to the popular interlocking Gs we are all familiar with today. The double Gs was initially designed by Aldo Gucci – the eldest son of Guccio Gucci.
After this, there was another redesign in the 90s involving the ‘GUCCI’ word and the interlocking G’s tight below it. In 1998, another redesign occurred. It entails a spaced lettering of the brand name. Finally, the brand was redesigned to an overlapping Gs logo, which remains the brand’s signature till today.
How Did Gucci Become a Global Luxury Brand?
In terms of quality, Gucci has always been a force of reckoning from its early days. So, its popularity has always resulted from the quality of the fashion items they sell. However, considering the brand’s global prominence, we must point out its introduction to American consumers.
When Gucci got to America, many Hollywood actors and actresses accepted the brand with its dynamic, innovative, and excellent designs. Gucci’s invasion of the American market was a calculated move because it was around the same time the film industry reached a new peak within the American streets.
Apart from the hype provided by movie stars like Elizabeth Taylor, Gucci also got more influence when Jacqueline Kennedy was seen with the bag. Grace Kelly, the princess of Monaco, also influenced the brand’s popularity when she bought the bamboo-handled bag and when Rodolfo Gucci designed a floral scarf for her.
The point to take away here is that Gucci leveraged the hype from the American market. It also brought other strategic actions towards localizing its styles to fit different markets, giving it widespread popularity and reverence that has remained till today.
The Charm of Gucci
You’ll agree that Gucci has constantly attracted people from far and wide. If you’re wondering what the charm is, below is a detailed explanation.
Trendy Designs
One factor that influences Gucci’s sustained popularity is its incorporation of trendy designs in its fashion items. Observing the brand’s history reveals its sensitivity to prominent trends of each decade while preserving tradition. At Gucci, rest assured you’ll always find something new.
Statement Logo
Durable Products
Gucci prioritizes quality in the production of all its fashion items. The products are made from quality materials and use quality craftsmanship to create every masterpiece. That’s why they are all durable, lasting many years if properly maintained.
Celebrities Choice
A wide selection of celebrities worldwide choose Gucci as their favorite luxury brand. While the brand collaborates with celebrities to influence its popularity, all is still down to the dynamic approach to design the brand always takes. So, being a celebrity’ choice is another charm Gucci has.
I feel like GUCCI has all the elements to become popular.
I agree. It has been a popular brand for a long time, but recently, SNS has become popular and it has succeeded in attracting younger customers.
Why are Gucci Fashion Items Expensive?
Gucci is a high fashion brand that produces luxury items expected to be pricier than regular brands. However, Gucci isn’t expensive just because it’s a luxury brand. It is costly because every item uses the best human and material resources.
Since its early days, the brand has been specific about quality, and that tradition is still much in place today. Every product undergoes the highest quality methods under the supervision of excellent technicians. The brand also observes high-quality control protocols for each product.
Quality control entails evaluation of each product and testing them before they are distributed to stores for sale. Quality production process is a top priority for the brand, so its products are costlier than other brands.
Why are Gucci Products Sold at Outlets Cheap?
If you’ve visited Gucci outlets, you may have realized their products are cheap. If you’re wondering why, we have curated four reasons why this is so below:
1. Outlets Have Unsold Products
The products you see at outlets are cheaper than regular ones because some are unsold. If you are okay with acquiring them, you may get a reasonable price at these outlets.
2. Outlets Have B-Class Products
Some of the products in outlets sell for cheaper because they aren’t A-grade. Many of them are B-grades due to slight defects like scratches or design defects that ruin their suitability as A-grade products that sell at a high price.
3. Outlets Have Sample Products
Many of the products at outlets are for display. These display products are generally of lower quality, unlike the A-grade products. This is another reason why outlet products sell at cheaper prices.
4. Outlets Also Get Exclusive Products
Outlets get a specific grade of products exclusively distributed to them for sale. They are sold for cheaper prices because they don’t match the standard grade
Although it is expensive, it means that they are particular about making it of the highest quality.
That’s right. They constantly pursue the highest quality in everything from materials to personnel selection. This reflects their desire to provide their customers with the highest quality experience since their founding.
Practical Tips to Sell Gucci Items at a High Price
Gucci retaining its position as a top-notch brand means all its products, whether old or new, are valuable. If you have one, you may sell it at a high price. However, there are specific tips to observe, and they include the following :
Clean Up and Maintain the Item
Getting a high price for an item in poor condition is almost impossible. So, to get a high price, you may have to evaluate the item to determine if it’s in a presentable condition. You should clean it up and observe mild maintenance care if it isn’t in good condition.
If there’s a defect on the item and it needs repair, you should get an expert to eliminate such defects. The general rule of thumb is that the more presentable your item, the higher your chances of getting a higher price. So, do what you must to get the best value for your Gucci item.
Repair Only At Authorized Stores
If your Gucci item requires a significant repair, avoid taking it to any random place. Taking your Gucci item to a random repairer opens the item up to risks of damages that may render it unacceptable for purchase. Instead, kindly take it to an authorized store to leverage the store’s skilled artisans to fix the issue with the item.
Ensure you do this before submitting it for appraisal. Taking a defective item for appraisal reduces your chances of getting a reasonable price.
Prepare Its Accessories
Gucci is a luxury brand that offers excellent presentation for even the tiniest item it produces. The presentation comes in packages that may include boxes or cards, constituting the product’s accessories.
Whatever accessories come with your item, prepare them before you go for appraisal. These accessories enhance the authenticity of your item. As a result, they encourage buyers to pay a reasonably higher price.
Get Appraisal from Multiple Specialty Stores
Different buyers have different price proposals for any item brought to their stores. While some prices may be high, others may be low. You can only know who will offer the highest price if you get appraisals from multiple stores. The idea is to determine the price you’ll be willing to take. Dealers would try to buy for as low as they can. It would help if you tried to get something decent from selling your Gucci Item.
Sell as Soon as Possible
Save time by visiting only a few stores for appraisal. The longer you wait, the lower your chances of getting a reasonable price for your Gucci item. So, avoid wasting too much time trying to get the market price.
Conclusion
Gucci is a brand that is built on tradition and excellence. While there have been several ups and downs, the brand remains one of the best luxury brands worldwide. So, if you have any Gucci items for sale, rest assured you’ll always get a high price.
