Gucci, a brand linked with elegance and flair, was established in 1921 by Guccio Giovanbattista Giacinto Dario Maria Gucci. Gucci's rise from Florence, where he opened his first shop, to a worldwide luxury powerhouse is a story of creativity, tradition, and tenacity. Gucci initially concentrated on saddlery and high-end leather products, drawing inspiration from the aristocratic guests of London's Savoy Hotel, a decision that established the tone for the brand's future orientation. Significant milestones reflect the brand's development.

Gucci had gone outside Italy by 1953, establishing a presence in New York and quickly becoming a luxury and high fashion symbol. This regional growth was accompanied by diversifying its product line to include apparel and jewelry, further consolidating its position in the fashion world. Celebrities such as Grace Kelly and Jacqueline Kennedy, who wore Gucci, raised the brand to legendary status. However, by the late 20th century, internal family disputes and shifting ownership disrupted the brand’s stability, leaving its identity in flux.

During this period, Gucci lost much of its cultural relevance, struggling to maintain its status as a fashion leader. Dawn Mello, the creative director at that time, tried to stabilize the brand, not by bringing something new to the table, but by catering to its existing loyal clientele through classic, familiar collections. However, this approach failed to reignite excitement around the maison. Recognizing the need for fresh energy, it was Mello herself who brought in Tom Ford to lead Gucci’s womenswear collections.

Ford remained in the background while Mello served as Gucci’s public face for a time, but her departure in the early 1990s left the brand in a precarious position. Gucci, once again, was searching for an identity. This uncertainty culminated in Ford’s appointment as design director in 1994, marking the start of one of fashion’s most dramatic turnarounds.

Ford’s Fall 1995 collection was more than just a runway debut—it was a statement of intent. Ford embraced a vision of bold sensuality and modern glamour. His designs were defined by sleek silhouettes, rich fabrics, and provocative cuts, which pushed Gucci beyond its past formulas, aligning it with the confident woman of the 1990s. Velvet suits, satin shirts unbuttoned to the navel, and thigh-high slit dresses became defining looks of the era, catapulting Gucci into a new realm of desirability. The brand was no longer just a luxury label—it became a cultural force.

This reinvention was not just aesthetic but financial. By the late 1990s, Gucci had transformed from a fading brand to one of the industry’s most lucrative names. In 1999, it entered a strategic partnership with Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR), now Kering, securing financial support and global expansion. The brand was thriving.

Yet, as history has shown, no creative vision at Gucci is permanent. Ford’s transformation of the house was undeniably impactful, but like all Gucci creative directors before and after him, his vision would not endure. Frida Giannini was appointed sole creative director in 2006, bringing a contrasting vision to Ford’s. Her designs embraced femininity and a softer elegance. It was Giannini who reincorporated the Flora silk scarf, which was designed in 1966 for Princess Grace of Monaco, reconnecting in this way with the maison’s heritage. However, this respect for the brand’s identity was not enough, as the lack of adaptation to emerging trends led to a decline in commercial performance. This resulted in Alessandro Michele being named Gucci’s new creative director in 2015.

Michele’s era at Gucci was marked by his transformative vision of gender-fluid romanticism and unapologetic, bold expressions. Through his eclectic vision, the Italian maison once again became appealing to the younger generations, making it not only highly influential but also one of the most fastest-growing luxury brands in the world. Michele's designs redefined Gucci's identity, blending functionality with fantasy to create pieces that were not only about fashion but self-expression. In this way, Alessandro Michele was not only representing Gucci’s values but their own. It was not Gucci, it was Michele’s Gucci.

His collaborations with Adidas and The North Face marked a significant shift in the brand’s approach to luxury fashion, blending streetwear and outdoor gear with high-end style to align with current fashion trends. However, even though these collaborations have been commercially successful and a strategic move to stay relevant in a rapidly evolving market, they've also sparked discussions about Gucci's brand positioning and pricing strategy. Offering items at more accessible price points ended up affecting the brand's traditional luxury image.

But if there was one thing Michele thrived at, it was storytelling. Through his campaigns and fashion shows, he would open conversations about gender, sexual identity, and race. His Fall/Winter 2019/20 campaign, in collaboration with photographer Glen Luchford, was a tribute to iconic fashion imagery between the 1950s and 1980s. With this approach, Gucci declared it was

Yet, when Michele departed, so did the narrative he had meticulously built for Gucci. The story told by the Italian brand for all those years rapidly vanished, leaving Gucci again searching for its identity.

The brand executives realized their lack of consistency and took some time to reestablish timeless fashion and higher-priced products, aiming to attract the ultra-high-net-worth clients. In January 2023, Sabato De Sarno was appointed as the creative director. His debut carried immense pressure from the industry, as he was tasked with redefining Gucci’s identity while quickly translating that into sales—especially crucial since Gucci accounts for the majority of Kering’s revenue, and further intensified by the legacy of his predecessor, Alessandro Michele, who had doubled the brand’s sales between 2015 and 2019, reaching nearly €10 billion according to The Business Of Fashion. De Sarno’s first collection was sophisticated and elegant, yet the exposed skin gave it a youthful touch at the same time. Nonetheless, today's fashion industry demands more than beautiful design—it requires conversational elements that can reignite excitement for fashion and drive store traffic. The name, ‘GUCCI ANCORA'—Italian for Gucci Again, and as good as it was, the name put high expectations on this promise. The New York Times even described it as a

De Sarno left the brand just two years after his appointment. The lack of narrative depth on his collections, plus the deceleration in the luxury industry due to global economic factors, did not meet Kering’s expectations. But more than that, Gucci’s constant reinvention leaves little room for creative directors to establish a long-term vision. The brand’s priority is no longer about cultivating heritage or allowing time for artistic exploration—it is about delivering immediate results to maintain shareholder confidence and drive Kering’s growth.

This pattern is not unique to De Sarno; Gucci has long operated on a system of radical reinvention, where each new creative director is tasked with erasing the past to assert their own vision. Unlike brands that build upon their history, Gucci continually breaks from it. From Tom Ford’s bold sensuality to Frida Giannini’s romantic reinterpretations, from Alessandro Michele’s eccentric maximalism to De Sarno’s understated sophistication—each transition is not an evolution but a rupture.

This approach has yielded cultural moments of massive success but has also left Gucci vulnerable to identity crises and fluctuating brand equity. Unlike Hermès or Chanel, which invest in heritage, craftsmanship, and consistency, Gucci remains a brand in constant flux, reinventing itself at the risk of losing itself.