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Florentine by birth and Roman by adoption, the Gucci maison is focusing much of its energy on Milan. Recent news is that it will be a sponsor not only of the Christmas tree in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, for years a Swarovski presence, but also of a series of Christmas illuminations in the streets of the Corvetto district: viale Enrico Martini, via Mompiani, via dei Panigorla, via dei Cinquecento, including three facades of three schools in the area. Cost of the installation – which is called “The gift of love” – as reported by the newspaper La Repubblica: 1 million euros.
At the moment “Dolce vita” which saw the strengthening of Gucci’s relations with Rome under the creative direction of Frida Giannini first, and then of Alessandro Michele, and a series of pilgrimages to new places (Castel del Monte, Westminster Abbey), with the change of creative direction, the double G fashion house has forcefully returned to investing in Milan where Sabato de Sarno, creative director appointed at the end of January 2023, had chosen to set his debut show in the streets of Brera. A project then “spoiled” by the rain forecast: the fashion show on September 22nd was moved to the Gucci Hub in via Mecenate. Another substantial investment: it was the year 2016 when, after three years of work, the 35 thousand m2 headquarters was inaugurated.
The connection with Milan since the 1950s
Milan has been a point of reference for the double G company since the 1950s when the first store was opened. Milan, at the time, was not experiencing the golden age that Rome was blessing in those decades. But it was clearly a center of post-war economic boom, social and cultural development. It was the Gucci family who brought the company’s center of gravity to Milan: over the years the Guccis had moved to live in Milan. Maurizio Gucci and Patrizia Reggiani, before their divorce, lived in an attic in San Babila and the company had some offices in via Palestro 20, where the entrepreneur was killed in March 1995.
The centrality of Milan was never questioned by Tom Ford, creative director from 1994 to 2004, the decade in which Gucci reached the peak of international success, with the fashion shows set up a few steps from the Porta Venezia headquarters, in a space of the Sheraton Diana Majestic Hotel. Tom Ford, who moved from New York to Milan in 1990 to join Gucci as head of ready-to-wear women’s clothing, will maintain an important link with Milan, where, once his own brand has been launched, he will open his show -main room.
La Dolce Vita with Frida Giannini and Alessandro Michele
Gucci’s relationship with Rome, which began between the end of the 1930s and the beginning of the 1940s with the opening of an office of the company founded by Guccio Gucci in the capital, has instead returned to strengthening with the appointment of Frida Giannini as director creative. Roman by birth, graduated from the Academy of Costume & Fashion (the institution for training in the fashion sector in the capital), Giannini brought the large style office back to the capital, bringing it to a city dominated by Fendi (Lvmh) and Valentino (purchased by Mayoola in 2012) a garrison of the Kering group.