Inside The Gucci Love Story How It All Came Undone

Published: June 22, 2016, 9:28 p.m.

b'With Patricia Gucci, Author of In the Name of Gucci: A Memoir, Granddaughter of Gucci Founder, Guccio Gucci

Gucci is one of the most recognizable luxury brands in the world, but few know the intriguing tale behind this fashion house that has defined Italian high-quality for over 70 years.
Patricia\\u2019s Gucci\\u2019s new book In the Name of Gucci: A Memoir is a family story and, as with many families, involves love, passion, betrayal, and adultery.
As the only daughter and, eventually, sole heir of her father, Aldo Gucci, Patricia paints a loving portrait of the man who took a small respected line of leather products and catapulted it onto the world stage in a very big way.
Patricia\\u2019s grandfather Guccio Gucci started the iconic brand in the early 1900s in his artisan workshop in Florence making high-quality luggage before expanding into handbags and other small leather goods. But it was his son Aldo who saw beyond the verdant hills of Tuscany to the tony shopping district of Rome where he convinced his father to open a second shop in 1938. Two important events took place after WW II: the beautiful bags soon got the attention of the well-heeled tourists and movie stars in the nascent days of La Dolce Vita and Aldo hired a clerk who would change his life and eventually give birth to Patricia Gucci.
Always looking forward, Aldo soon took another leap in the 1950s by opening the flagship Gucci store in New York which began the phenomenon behind Made in Italy\\u2014 the mark of Italian excellence. After the likes of Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn were photographed adorned with their Gucci handbags hanging over their arms, everyone who could afford it wanted to own a piece of Gucci.
At the time he met and fell in love with Patricia\\u2019s mother Bruna, Aldo was married with three young sons, and, at that time in Italy\\u2014that most Catholic of countries, adultery was against the law. How his determination and love for this woman finally won her over is part of the fascinating story. The other part is how after the death of Guccio Gucci in 1953 a rising rift occurred among the brothers and their sons.
Patricia\\u2019s half-brothers, cousins, and uncles Vasco and Rodolfo all had shares in the company, as well as their own and often conflicting ideas of how things should be done.\\xa0 In spite of that, Aldo remained the driving force behind what, by then, had become a major player in the luxury accessory and, eventually, clothing line.
Meanwhile, throughout these years, Patricia, the not-so-secret love child, was doted on by her father who eventually brought her to New York and into the business in her 20s. Learning by her father\\u2019s side in those early years, Patricia eventually served on the company\\u2019s board and became fashion coordinator in the Gucci stores throughout the US, all with the aim of bringing a more youthful look to the brand.
But the internecine fighting grew ugly and, eventually, Aldo lost control of the company. The most painful event in his life occurred \\xa0when his son Paolo went to the IRS which resulted in Aldo serving a year and a half in prison for tax evasion at the age of 82\\u2014a devastating blow to this proud and dignified man.
Aldo Gucci died in 1990, but still today Gucci maintains its star luster. No longer a family business, it\\u2019s now owned by Investcorp, a Bahrain-based corporation.'