Gucci

In 1921 Guccio Gucci opened a leather-goods shop in Florence, inspired by the refined luggage he had seen as a porter at London's Savoy Hotel and determined to bring that elegance to Italian craftsmanship.

From Florence's tradition of fine leatherwork came the house codes that endure to this day: the equestrian horsebit, the green-red-green web drawn from saddle girths, and the interlocking double-G of Guccio's own initials.

Post-war ingenuity bred icons, the bamboo-handled bag, born of material shortages, and the Flora silk scarf created for Grace Kelly, cemented Gucci as the jet-set's house of choice.

Through decades of reinvention the brand mastered the art of desire, balancing heritage leather craft with a sensual, glamorous, often subversive modernity that kept it perpetually current.

Today Gucci remains one of the most influential names in luxury, a Florentine house where centuries of craftsmanship meet an endlessly seductive vision of contemporary style.