Analysis of Sara Gay Forden's The House of Gucci

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Though some would judge a book filled with high fashion faux paus and captivating drama, as unworthy to be noted as a book of historical importance, The House of Gucci is an accounting of one of the greatest fashion houses of the 20th century. Sara Gay Forden, the author of The House of Gucci, places you on a roller coaster of highs and lows, births and deaths, divorces and marriages, and bankruptcy and capital power. She manages to integrate a respectful look at how fashion affects us in both apparent and subtle ways. This novel reveals simply that fashion is not all about logos and Dockers, but about the ugly truth behind one of fashion’s most infamous family.

Guccio Gucci was an ambitious man with a dream to create a fashion label with his own two hands, which he fulfilled in 1921 by fashioning high end leather bags. Not long after reaching the pinnacle of his success as an entrepreneur, he passed away in 1953 and willed his hard won name and reputation to his five sons. Aldo took the reins of the rising Gucci business, plowing full speed ahead. Though not as actively involved as his brothers, Rodolfo, one of Guccio’s five sons, married and had a son, Maurizio Gucci. Out of greed, Maurizio then mischievously delegated a plan to steal the Gucci business from his five cousins. With the help from a company, Investcorp, he succeeded, but in doing so he caused the business to plummet and diminish whatever stature it had attained. Maurizio nearly caused the Gucci business to go bankrupt due to his resistance to hire professional management. Fortuitously, Investcorp bought all of Gucci and placed Domencio De Sole as CEO, and Tom Ford as creative director, bringing Gucci out of its dark years and into the highlight once more. When ...

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...by locating printed and photographic material about the family business, Guccio Gucci, and Aldo Gucci. Forden had nothing but a keen interest in the Gucci dynasty, and was encouraged by her husband and editor to write this family biography.

I would highly recommend this book to a person engrossed in high fashion and drama, as I enjoyed it myself. For the most part, this book is very well written and subtly teaches a moral; however successful your business is, it will never survive without professional management and outside capital - and the personalities of the founders’ descendents can dilapidate all success with their greed and desire for power. The author portrays this moral by limning the life of Guccio Gucci’s diligent work, and years later, to have his nephew, Maurizio, take over and crush Gucci’s notoriety due to ignorance and avarice. (pgs. 6-25, 101-126)

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