Between June 1998 and February 1999, the eagle-eyed Bernard Arnault began to amass Gucci shares, eventually building up a stake of 34.4 percent through a series of transactions, before attempting a takeover, which was eventually foiled. In short, if Arnault pursues and wins Gucci, dont expect De Sole or Ford to remain very long on LVMHs payroll. This year will see the upgrading of stores in New York, Verona, San Francisco, Brussels, Paris and of Guccis original store in Milan. Before long the part-time job had become full-time, and De Sole was butting heads with Maurizio Gucci, who took over management of the parent company in 1984. By the time Maurizio Gucci was gunned down in the lobby of his Milan office on March 27, 1995, the company he knew and loved was already embarking on a new journey under Domenico De Sole and Tom Ford, and priming for the sort of success that would surpass Maurizios own big ambitions. In 1995, De Soles second year in the saddle, Gucci Group earned a record $83 million, on revenues of $500 million. Get our L.A. Finally, it ends in the year 1995. While Patrizia didnt actually receive her divorce papers that way, she did fume with rage at the prospect of her crumbling marriage. House of Gucci Left Out Allegra Gucci When Investcorp head reveals the gold leaf, its a sign that Aldo has been betrayed by his nephew Maurizio. Yes. However, that was not what happened in real life. We had a nice chat, a rational conversation. As president and CEO of the Gucci Group, Domenico De Sole LL.M. The first hour of House of Guccifocuses on Adam Driver's Mauriziobeing reluctant to deal with his family, who pushes him to be part of the company. De Sole took over Gucci at a tricky time for the company: Having run Gucci America for nearly a decade, he returned to his native Italy in the early 90s to become chief operating officer of the parent company and, not long after, the CEO. Password must be at least 8 characters and contain: As part of your account, youll receive occasional updates and offers from New York, which you can opt out of anytime. His wife, actress Alessandra Winkelhausen Gucci, died at age 44 in 1954 when their son Maurizio was only 5 years old. Ridley Scotts House of Gucci, an Italian fashion family epic, creates a wild soap opera from the tempestuous romance between fashion heir Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver) and his power-hungry bride, Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga). Gucci had for years carried some rather matronly womens wear, but had never produced a complete ready-to-wear line. In the film, pushed by a manipulative Patrizia, Maurizio makes a pact with Paolo: If his cousin throws in his support, the pair will push Aldo out of the company and take over Gucci under the name Gucci Licensing Services. Terms of Service apply. Once a bellboy at the Savoy Hotel in London, Guccio was inspired by the luxurious luggage of the upper-class guests to craft his own leather bags. PARIS: In news that shook the fashion world and brought to an end an expansive era in the luxury universe, Tom Ford and Domenico De Sole, the creative and management team behind . It was at Gucci that he met his current business partner, Domenico De Sole, then the company's CEO. FILE - In this Oct. 23, 2014 file photo, Domenico De Sole, a chairman of the board at Sotheby s, and his wife Eleanore attend Fashion Group International's "Night of Stars" in New York. After secretly acquiring a 5%-plus stake in Gucci, Arnault in early January agreed to buy Bertellis Gucci stake for $398 million. Its forward of her, yet somehow touching. During these years, there were creative tensions between Ford and Maurizio Gucci, the company's chairman and 50% owner. Jack Huston: Domenico De Sole. The true story is that it wasn't a fashion show that was stopped like in House of Guccibut a handbag launch. The legal disputes with the family company and in-fighting continued for many years after that betrayal. Maurizio and Paola had known each other briefly as teenagers, meeting on the beaches of Santa Margherita, and began their relationship after reuniting in 1990 at a nightclub in St. Moritz. She was also friends with Orlando, who had described the Gucci successor to her the previous night. Senior critic-at-large. [4][2], De Sole worked for leading U.S. law firms before becoming a partner at the Washington DC firm Patton, Boggs & Blow, specializing in tax law. Reeve Carney attends the House of Gucci New York premiere at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Tom Ford and Domenico De Sole, credited with turning around the fortunes of the fashion house of Gucci, have said they will be leaving the company. By 1993, the familys attorney and the CEO of Gucci America, Domenico De Sole, had sided with Investcorp, forcing out Maurizio. 2023 Fairchild Publishing, LLC. After a brief internship at TPI, she decided she wanted to pursue journalism and graduated with a degree in International Journalism from Brunel University. By 1993, the family's attorney and the CEO of Gucci America, Domenico De Sole, had sided with Investcorp, forcing out Maurizio. Maurizios dream for an international, prosperous and outward-looking Gucci was realized, and De Sole and Ford outstripped even their own expectations. [5] Eleanore Richards "Rickie" De Sole, Executive Fashion Director Vogue.com, married Derek Webster in 2012. Read on for excerpts of the interview. Rodolfo never remarried and doted on Maurizio throughout the rest of his childhood. If I had to come up No problems in that department. Having been convicted for her role in securing the assassins who would kill Maurizio, Auriemma was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Sep 24, 2002. It was likely Aldo Gucci who began the story that the family was descended from noble saddlemakers to the medieval courts, when his father and company founder Guccio Gucci actually began his. Maurizio tried consolidating power with the help of Investcorp, which provided the equity Maurizio lacked by freezing out his uncle Aldo. While Maurizios death had no impact on the new 1990s Gucci he had sold his shares to his then-minority partner Investcorp in 1993 it was still shocking for some. But he ultimately lost the war. Tall, thin, blond and comfortable in the world of the wealthy seemingly the opposite in every way of Patrizia Paola Franchi was Maurizios girlfriend during the last years of his life and was living with him at his vast palazzo on Milans luxurious Corso Venezia at the time of his death. He is a lawyer by t. Nov. 5, 2003. When asked if De Sole had been consulted about the movie, he simply said "no." When asked where reality ends and fiction begins, he replied, "When you take a story over 15-20 years and . The pair, however, didnt first meet through a hotline phone call. According to the companys latest report, De Sole, Ford and other Gucci executives held options on nearly 3 million Gucci shares; at the current stock price, those options would be in the money to the tune of around $100 million. He was murdered on the steps of his office building in Milan on March 27, 1995. The fashion heir, nevertheless, finds her attractive. In real life, Alessandrawas also to thank for the reconciliation between Rodolfo and Maurizio, but she wasn't the only daughterborn to Maurizioand Patrizia. PPR is a French multinational holding company specializing in retail shops and luxury brands that gained ownership of 60 percent of the Gucci Group's stock in 2003. Patrizia morphs from a (affectionate?) (Technical note: Gucci is amortizing the nearly $100 million of goodwill created by the Severin Montres acquisition against earnings over 20 years, half the time required by U.S. accounting standards.). Alessandra Gucci's birth marks an important moment in the movie's story, as it happens around the same time Driver's Maurizio begins to work for the family business. At a March 1986 launch party in Rome, judicial police burst in to commandeer the collection, sending guests fleeing with Champagne glasses still in hand. By Rob Bear Feb 15, 2013, 3:30pm EST. De Sole: There wasnt much money for advertising, so we decided to sink what we had into fashion, which is a highly publicized business. To everyones surprise, De Sole, who was born in Rome and educated at the University of Rome before winning a scholarship to Harvard Law, took Gucci up on the offer. Although by then Maurizio was on the verge of selling all of his shares to Investcorp and exiting the company, his legacy loomed large. Beyond that, I didnt know. His brother Rodolfo retained a 40-year-old Harvard Law School-educated lawyer named Domenico De Sole to handle the case. Email Bio Follow . The women of, Sam Levinson and the Weeknd Allegedly Turned, Theres No Red Button You Can Push to Stop. On a scale of laminated-eyebrow drama to Lemon Lady Secrets. I would bump up the glamour level a bit.. I still feel offended.. The line was a hit in the press, as was the collection shown in the fall of 1995 that was designed around a retro 1960s style. Paolos catchphrase in the movie, used to express any dissatisfaction and uttered like a light tap to the gut, is a short Boof! Theres no indication Paolo ever used the phrase. Perhaps surprisingly, the real-life story that inspired House of Guccihad as many twists and turns as one would expect from a movie, not the real world. In real life, though,De Sole had had the Gucci family as a client for years, helping them through their restructuring. It unfortunately, however, did not happen. She completed her sentence in social service work, and the terms of her release even allowed her a gig at Milan-based costume jewelry firm Bozart. The settlement marks the end of a prolonged and miserable period in the history of the art market. Maurizio's cousin Paolo's flamboyant fashion sense is matched by the wonderful pasha interior of his Porsche 924. When De Sole departed, revenues for all of Gucci Group which by then had expanded to include brands such as Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney and Bottega Veneta were more than $3 billion. But Paolo did suspect it was Maurizio who had called the authorities on him. The reasons behind these snubs aren't exactly clear, though it could be thatHouse of Gucci's length held it back a little. Somewhere in the multiverse of fashion, there is a branch of reality in which Tom Ford and Domenico De Sole never sold Gucci to PPR.They never bought Yves Saint Laurent or Bottega Veneta or Balenciaga; never left Kering; never started their own brand; and never sold that brand to Este Lauder for almost $3 billion. Domenico De Sole, Self: Made You Look: A True Story About Fake Art. Investcorps then-CFO came into my office in despair. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us. Gucci sells its products through three kinds of outlets . In 1987, Italian financial police came to apprehend Maurizio after Paolo accused him of illegal business dealings. Even at $70 a share Gucci is priced at 23 times its estimated 1998 earnings, reasonable compared to average equity market p/e multiples in Europe and the U.S. De Sole says Gucci is off to a fast start in this years first quarter, and theres plenty of growth left in the 78-. year-old company, which got its start making fancy harnesses for horses. Domenico De Sole was born in Rome, Italy in 1944, the son of a Royal Italian Army General. Rather, its a very good invention by Leto and will probably become a mainstay pop-culture reference. His father, Aldo, had given 10% of his 50% stake in the company to his three sons, allocating 3.3% to each of them. House of Gucci is a 2021 American crime biopic film directed by Ridley Scott. The new House of Gucci movie tells the very real story of all the scandal, power, love, betrayal, and, yes, even murder that surrounded the Gucci family back in the day. Last month, I had the chance to sit down with Domenico De Sole, chairman of TOM FORD, at the National Retail Federation's annual Big Show. Losing them, Magnelia says, would cost too much in Guccis good will value. Publicly, Arnault gushes that De Sole is an excellent manager and Tom Ford an exceptional designer.. In a ploy to kick Aldo out of the company, House of Gucci depicts Maurizio and Patrizia's plotting against him with his son Paolo, who knew ofAldo'stax evasion in the U.S. To getPaolo to turn on his father, they promised him his own line, but when he finally got his fashion show, itwas disrupted by the police. But in reality, Paolo wasnt manipulated into doing it. A theory emerged that Patrizia Reggiani didnt want Maurizio marrying his girlfriend at the time, potentially diluting the inheritance she believed was their daughters birth right. Per Fordens book, she proclaimed to a housekeeper, If its the last thing I do, I want to see [Maurizio] dead.. Domenico De Sole (born 1944) is an Italian [1] businessman, chairman of Tom Ford International, current director of Acamar Partners, [citation needed] former chairman of Sotheby's, and former president and CEO of Gucci Group . It is called 'doing a Gucci' after Domenico De Sole and Tom Ford's stunning success at turning nearly bankrupt Gucci Group into a 7 billion (10 billion) (market capitalization) fashion powerhouse. In House of Gucci, De Sole is shown to have worked at the company long before Maurizio even considered joining. Gucci's success at selling an elaborately crafted fantasy of sex and wealth is . When Paolo aligned his interest with Maurizios 50%, he tipped the scales to begin the process that ultimately led to the family no longer owning the company. A true autocrat, the 50-year-old Arnault is unlikely to share any real power with De Sole. House of Gucci (2021) Jack Huston as Domenico De Sole. On Jan. 19 Arnault bought another 6% of Gucci from Chicago-based Harris Associates Oakmark Select Fund. One of his clients in the early 1980s was Gucci, where he helped with corporate restructuring, and Rodolfo Gucci, a son of the founder Guccio Gucci, enticed De Sole to join in 1984 as CEO of Gucci America. Domenico De Sole, who joined Gucci in the 1980s, took the reins after Maurizio and oversaw Gucci's revival as a sex-driven brand with major red carpet appeal under Tom Ford. But if you're watching people be creative, and you're smart, and you pay attention, you can learn a lot. Maurizio Gucci would go from reluctantly joining his family firm to ruthlessly ousting his relatives to enact the vision he was convinced would save the company. Aldo worked early on to spread the legend of the Guccis as noble saddlemakers. Domenico De Sole is chairman of Tom Ford International, the menswear brand that now includes beauty, accessories, fragrance and footwear. In 2004, Tom Ford and Domenico De Sole parted with Gucci group when they failed to agree with PPR over artistic control of the company. Out of greed and rage, she ordered the hit on her ex-husband. By Robin Givhan. I read the screenplay before it was made, and, you know, for somebody who lived it, you have to realize that things are glamorized in film, because when I read some of the descriptions of things that were happening and the characters, and what they were wearing, what they were doing I mean, I was there, and they werent quite so glamorous. De Sole promptly promoted protg Tom Ford to Guccis head designer. These world travelers vacationed on Hilton Head for years before building an oceanfront home and moving here permanently. In Ridley Scott'sHouse of Gucci, Patrizia can be seen calling her future psychic and friend Pina (Salma Hayek) while the latter is working on live television. The idea that we might recognize a problem and do something about it never seemed to occur to anyone.. During the trial, she would become The Black Widow. (She would also sometimes be referred to in the press as Lady Gucci, a prescient irony for the woman who would later be portrayed on screen by Lady Gaga.) The true story is that Reggiani had been rather spoiled her whole life and, according to her own words then, had never held a job. One of the tax attorney's clients in the early 1980s was the famed Gucci design family. As Fords ready-to-wear lines won raves, they moved the Gucci image back into the forefront of the luxury goods field. [9], In the 2021 film House of Gucci, directed by Ridley Scott, De Sole was portrayed by actor Jack Huston.[10]. I never thought it was possible and I thought the rumors were crazy. Theres no way anybody else could have given him that shoe, except Maurizio. House Of Gucci True Story & Real-Life Scandal Explained, Every Ridley Scott Movie Ranked From Worst To Best (Including House of Gucci), Lady Gaga's American Horror Story: Roanoke Witch Villain Explained, Why Jared Leto's Character In House Of Gucci Went Too Far, Why House of Gucci's Reviews Are So Mixed. '72, former CEO of Gucci, endowed a chair for a scholar focused on business law. Maurizio Gucci, the First to Dream of a Gucci Luxury Powerhouse, Breaking Down Lady Gagas and Adam Drivers Approaches to Style for House of Gucci, Sign up for WWD news straight to your inbox every day. As Guccis registers began ringing again, De Sole lavished money on Guccis image-important stores. Pinault Printemps-Redoute (Paris), which took control of the Gucci Group two years ago, announced that it had been . As Gucci began to disintegrate in early 1994, Investcorp bought the other half, bid ciao to Maurizio Gucci and a stroke of genius born of desperation . 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