AUTHOR SARA FORDEN TELLS DRAMATIC STORY OF FAMED HOUSE OF GUCCI

A dramatic tale of passion, betrayal and business in the world of high fashion drew a large and enthusiastic crowd to Casa Italiana recently on a cold rainy winter day. At our first program of the year on January 28, 2018, an audience of 93 members and guests heard financial reporter and author Sara Gay Forden give us the story behind the story set out in her book about the famous Gucci high-end fashion house.

Sara lived in Milan for 22 years, working as a financial journalist for Dow Jones and Bloomberg and covering stories like Chrysler/Fiat and Parmalat. But this being Milan, a city with some big personalities, sometimes the business and financial beats overlapped with the fashion world. Sara explained that she started to hear rumors and stories from her contacts in Milan about Gucci’s business and financial dealings. Her interest in fashion as well as business led her to take two years off to write this fascinating book.

So, Sara researched the company’s history, from its founding by Guccio Gucci in 1921 as a highquality leather goods company based in Florence, to his succession by his sons, especially Aldo who took the company to a whole other level. Gucci expanded overseas to New York, where in the post-war decades, the only wellknown Italian luxury brands were “Gucci and Pucci.”

Gucci eventually moved its offices from its home base in Florence to Milan and then expanded its reach to Paris, London, Asia and other parts of the world.

But it was by no means smooth sailing. The company surely had more than its share of ups and downs and ups again. Sara explained how, for a time, Aldo’s son Paolo wanted to sell all sorts of items with the Gucci name on them and thus he ran afoul of the family members who valued the company’s traditions. His father Aldo, for one, was vehemently opposed to such a cheapening of the brand, and in retaliation, Paolo sent incriminating tax documents concerning his father to the IRS. Because of his son’s betrayal, Aldo spent a year in prison in Florida at the age of 81.

Under Aldo’s nephew Maurizio and family friend and lawyer Domenico De Sole, the company did exceedingly well for a time after hiring unknown American designer Tom Ford, who transformed the image of Gucci into one of Hollywood glamour with his cutting-edge designs and provocative advertising.

But the finances were a mess, with lawsuits galore; at one point, Maurizio was forced to make a nighttime escape to Switzerland on his red Kawasaki motorcycle in order to avoid arrest. Eventually Gucci was taken over by Kering, a conglomerate controlled by French billionaire Francois Pinault which had also acquired Yves Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta. Gucci had managed to fend off a takeover by the conglomerate LVMH controlled by another French billionaire, Bernard Arnault, who already had acquired Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Loro Piana, Bulgari and Christian Dior. Sara noted that it has been a common situation in other Italian family-owned high-end fashion houses, such as Prada and Fendi, which have been acquired by much bigger non-Italian companies.

Sara confirmed that the Oscar-winning director Ridley Scott has an option on the book and plans to make it into a movie. And why not? After all, the book is entitled, “House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour and Greed.” Truly a cautionary tale of passion and betrayal with business mixed in!!

In writing her book, Sara said she interviewed 100 people connected to Gucci in some way--basically “anyone who wasn’t dead,” including Aldo’s sons, Domenico De Sole, Tom Ford and Maurizio Gucci before his untimely death.

Sara told us fascinating details about the infamous trial involving the murder of Maurizio, one of the founder’s grandsons, by his ex-wife Patrizia. Two years after the murder, Patrizia was arrested and hauled off to jail wearing her gold and diamond jewelry and full-length fur coat. It’s a story that is stranger than fiction, and Sara covered the trial and wrote about it in detail. She even corresponded with Patrizia while she was in prison. Sara mentioned that ironically, following her release Patrizia now lives in Milan in the building that overlooks the courthouse where she went on trial.

Before Sara’s fascinating talk, a delicious lunch was served, catered by Fontina Grille of Rockville, Maryland, with the wonderful desserts made by AMHS Vice President Lynn Sorbara. Our great raffle prizes brought in $335. We thank all those who helped with setting up the room and serving the lunch, those who donated the raffle prizes and those who bought the raffle tickets.