Sunday, May 16, 2010

Gucci Shoes history

Guccio Gucci, born in1881, was the founder of Gucci Company in 1906. He showed his remarkable craftsmanship as a manufacturer of leather goods. In the beginning he focused only on saddler goods for horsemen. After that he made small bags and started selling to the horsemen in1920. However with the change in transportation system he also shifted from small leather bags to big luggages. In 1938 he opened his first retail shop on Via Condotti in Rome.


In 1950 Guccio Gucci diversified his business from mere leather bags to various other items such as ties, shoes and the famous handbags with bamboo handle. He introduced his trademark of red stripped webbing which he had taken from his original work of saddle girth. This became the very emblem of leather moccasin to leather bit. In New York he introduced the Loafer shoes with gilded snaffle which became very popular. These shoes due to its unique design and popularity are being kept in New York’s Museum in Modern Art. After his death his family spread his business from Rome to Beverly Hills, London, Paris, Palm Beach and Tokyo. Thereby Gucci started spreading his business. Many Hollywood stars became attached to the Company. The Company introduced the GG logo.


However their soon grew a conflict among the children of Guccio. Aldo started spreading his business in international market. Rodolfo initially started supporting the business dormant but soon tried to take hold of important decisions for the company directly. It thereby led to conflict and disputes between the brothers regarding inheritance, stock holdings and important decisions for the company. The disputes became so severe that it brought Gucci Company to the verge of bankruptcy. Finally Aldo and Rodolfo divided the company into equal shares though Rodolfo contributed more than Aldo.


Gucci shoes are famous for his etiquette style, comfort and sexy in design. The company does not distinguish between male and female. It made exquisite designs both for male and female and even does not spare kids from the fashion world.


Gucci started footwear for men and women in 1921. At that time it got worldwide recognition as branded footwear. Gucci men shoes consists of Gucci Sneakers, Gucci Moccasins, Gucci Sandals, Gucci Boots. With the change in time Gucci design and variety have also undergone remarkable changes according to the fashion and demand of the customers. In today’s men’s fashion world Gucci has occupied a vast market. In case of women’s footwear Gucci has shown stylish designs and variety. Gucci women shoes variety consist of Gucci Sneakers, Gucci High Heels and Gucci loafers and flats
Gucci’s Italian leather makes the foot feel the comfort due to its branded leather. It’s a perfect handwork with exquisite design and manufactured with finest leather. Though the shoes are quite expensive and are not reachable to the common people, its branded quality is the result of its popularity among the elite class. Gucci employs GG fabric in their shoes. Gucci shoes make design according to the shoe lovers. Gucci shoes are now not only in shops but they can be purchased even online. It has 278 shops worldwide till 2009 record.


Gucci is also biggest selling Italian brand in the world. It generates the revenue of 2.2 billion euro according to the estimation of 2009. It is also the second biggest selling fashion after LBMW.

About Gucci

Gucci was first established in Italy back in 1921 by Guccio Gucci. Gucci started his working life in a series of jobs such as dish washing and waiting. It was during this time that Gucci learned of peoples love of leather goods and status symbols. Gucci began has a small business which specialised in making leather items,among them, the now famous Gucci shoes. Gucci first began as a saddlery hence the horse-bit logo which is now known all over the world.

As the 1930's were growing near Gucci had found a name for itself as the place to shop in Italy for high quality goods.

Gucci saw its first boutique make its debut in Florence and it was in 1932 that the Gucci created the first in the line in a new range of shoes, the Gucci loafer. The shoes are the only pair that have earned a place at the Museum on Modern Art in New York.

Soon after its open Gucci began to attract clients from around the globe. The GG logo was designed by Guccio Gucci and his oldest son Aldo and has since become well known and is still considered a sign of sophistication and class by its Gucci wearers.

It was in 1953 that the creator of Gucci died. It was left to his four sons Aldo, Vasco, Ugo and Rodolfo to keep the business running.

The fifties also saw Gucci make even more of a name for itself when it began to attract famous clientèle. The Gucci brand was worn by Eleanor Roosevelt, the film star Elizabeth Taylor and Princess Grace.

After the death of Gucci the company was steered by his sons and began its expansion preparing the way for the huge brand name that the company is known as today. This era saw an increase in the amount of people seeking out luxury style goods and Gucci was well placed to provide these to the wealthiest of customers.

In the sixties interest began to grow in a new line of Gucci shoes. These were styled as a moccasin and were worn by stars such as Jerry Lewis,John Wayne, Audrey Hepburn and Princess Margaret. Imelda Marcos became known for her love of shoes and was known to own several by Gucci.

It was in 1975 that Vasco Gucci died and this triggered many changes within the Gucci organisation. At the time Gucci had an incredible 9,000 customers coming to its stores in the States each and everyday and employed 600 staff. Gucci shoes were the 'must have' fashion accessory at the time.

Gucci sounds like a runaway success and has been for most of its years but back in the 1990s the company was fending off bankruptcy, a problem which was eventually resolved with a takeover which turned around the fortunes of the company. Domenico De Sole became the CEO of Gucci in the mid ninety nineties and started to do all that he needed to do to turn the company back around and regain the image that Gucci had previously held as a sought after luxury name brand.

In the late 1990's Gucci faced another battle. This time it was to stop itself being the subject of a takeover after Louis Vuitton made a purchase of Prada shares giving it a significant share of the company. Gucci found away to stop this merger going ahead and still managed thrive even with things tightening up on the economic front.

Gucci shoes command a high price these days after earning a reputation for being one of the most sought after brand names worldwide.

You can tell genuine Gucci shoes by the high quality of the work that has gone into them. They are famed the high quality of craftsmanship that goes into the making of each pair Copies give themselves away by being poorly made and cheap to get hold of. Gucci sells for hundreds of dollars due to the high price its name commands.

Gucci continues to be keep its name as one of the sought after designer brands. Everyone knows its GG logo and its line of shoes, handbags, belts. The luxury products are still made with the same skill as they were when the line first began making the quality of the product stand out amongst others in the market place and Gucci looks sets to continue as one of the worlds best known luxury brands.