BusinessWeek magazine says that Gucci made more thanUS$7 billion in 2006, and was 46th in the magazine's yearly "Top 100 Brands".[3] Gucci is the second biggest selling fashion brand afterLVMH. It is the biggest selling Italian brand in the world.[4] It has about 425 shops around the world and it sells its products to other shops byfranchisees anddepartment stores.
Gucci was started in 1906 byGuccio Gucci. In 1938, Gucci grew bigger, and a small shop opened inRome. Guccio Gucci designed many of the company's famous clothes. In 1947, Gucci made thebamboo-handle handbag, which is still used. In the 1950s, Gucci also made the striped webbing (a type of material), and thesuede and metalmoccasin shoes.
One of the many Gucci shops in Milan, Italy
Guccio Gucci's wife, Aida Calvelli had a large family, with six children, but only their four sons (Vasco, Aldo, Ugo, and Rodolfo) helped lead the company. After Guccio's death in 1953, Aldo helped lead the company to being a major fashion shop in more countries. He opened the company’s first small shops inLondon,Paris, andNew York. Arguments about inheritances, stock holdings, and day-to-day operations of the shops often divided the family, and caused alliances to be made. Gucci grew in other countries. Gucci decided to grow a lot inEast Asia in the late 1960s. He opened shops inHong Kong (China),Tokyo (Japan), andKorea. At that time, the company also made its famousGG logo (Guccio Gucci's initials), and the Flora silk scarf (worn most byHollywoodactressGrace Kelly), and the "Jackie O shoulder" bag, which was made famous byJacqueline Kennedy Onassis, thewidow ofU.S. PresidentJohn F. Kennedy.
Gucci store in Hong Kong, China
Gucci was one of the biggest luxury clothes companies in the world, until the late 1970s, when some bad business decisions and family arguments almost made the companybankrupt. At the time, the brothers Aldo and Rodolfo controlled equal 50% shares of the company. In 1979, Aldo made the 'Gucci Accessories Collection', or 'GAC', which was meant to increase sales for the Gucci Parfums sector, which his sons controlled. GAC sold small accessories, such ascosmetic bags, lighters, and pens, which were cheaper than the other items in the company’s accessories catalogue. Aldo gave control of Parfums to his son Roberto in an effort to weaken Rodolfo’s control of the overall operations of the company.
Aldo Gucci grew into new markets, such as an agreement withAmerican Motors Corporation (AMC), so that in 1972AMC Hornet small "Sportabout" car became one of the first American cars to give a special luxury made by a famous fashion designer. The Gucci cars had striped green, red, and buff material inside, as well as the Gucci's logos and outside color selections.
The "Gucci Accessories Collection" was popular, but it brought the Gucci strength down. After a few years, the "Parfums section" started to sell better than the "Accessories section". The newly-made wholesaling business brought the once-exclusive brand to over a thousand stores in the United States alone with the GAC line. This damaged the brand’s standing with fashionable customers. "In the 1960s and 1970s," writesVanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, "Gucci had been at the pinnacle of chic, thanks to icons such asAudrey Hepburn,Grace Kelly, andJacqueline Onassis. But by the 1980s, Gucci had lost its appeal, becoming a tacky airport brand."
