Searches for Gucci Products Soar, Like a Pigeon, Following “House of Gucci”
Photo: Fabio Lovino/Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc.
“House of Gucci,” a film in which no single actor behaves as though they have been cast in the same movie (and in Jared Leto’s case, the same universe), is certainly garnering mixed reviews: The actual Gucci family hates it, Tom Ford wrote that he “laughed out loud” but didn’t know if he was supposed to (same, Tom) and actual critics don’t seem to have much nice to say at all. But it is finding success of a kind — on the resale market, where it’s moving the needle on searches for Gucci.
According to ShopStyle, searches for the Italian brand are up 31% on its platform. That double-G belt style is leading the charge, with searches up 71%; bags and loafers aren’t far behind, though, at 60% and 50% increases, respectively. Lyst says that searches for Gucci jumped by 68% within just 48 hours of the film’s release. (Though that would be a slowdown from the trailer’s debut in August, which Lyst says spiked searches for Gucci by a whopping 173%.), Meanwhile, data sent out by Wethrift claims that Google searches for “vintage Gucci” have increased by some 270%.
Photo: Fabio Lovino/Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc.
Customers aren’t just searching out vintage Gucci, either: It should come as no surprise that Lady Gaga is a style inspiration even when playing a murderously vengeful ex-wife. ShopStyle says searches are also up for items like long-sleeved midis and polka dot dresses, like the kinds worn by Gaga’s character Patrizia. Over at Lyst, just one week after that August debut of the official trailer, page views for both polka dot and lace dresses had increased by 100%.
Hey, at least the costume design was more convincing than those accents.
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How a Turbulent Marriage in the House of Gucci Led to Murder: ‘He Said He Didn’t Love Her Anymore’
In Friday’s episode of Dateline NBC, confidants of Maurizio and Patrizia Gucci open up about the marriage and divorce that unraveled the Gucci family
How a Turbulent Marriage in the House of Gucci Led to Murder: ‘He Said He Didn’t Love Her Anymore’
When Patrizia Reggiani met Maurizio Gucci at a party in 1970, she saw him as her ticket to a better life.
“She knew what she wanted and she went out to get it,” PEOPLE editor-in-chief Dan Wakeford says in Friday’s episode of Dateline NBC. “She wanted to get to that next echelon of society.”
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And she did — within two years, Patrizia and Maurizio were married, entwining her with the prominent house of Gucci and the heir to the Gucci fashion brand.
The celebrity power couple relocated from Italy to New York City, where Patrizia quickly joined the ranks of prominent socialite women.
But the couple’s picture-perfect love story looked more like Romeo and Juliet behind the scenes, says Wakeford — noting that it was influenced by Gucci family politics and a disapproving father. (An exclusive clip from this week’s two-hour Dateline NBC special, titled “Murder in the House of Gucci,” is shown below.)
“[Maurizio’s father, Rodolfo,] was very concerned about Patrizia, the way she would spend money and the way — her view, you know, she wanted to live her life,” says Domenico De Sole, former CEO and chairman of Gucci, adding that Rodolfo viewed her as a gold-digger.
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In addition to the external pressures tugging at their marriage from the beginning, the couple’s relationship grew strained from the inside — particularly after Maurizio became the majority stakeholder of the family company, pulling his focus away from Patrizia.
In 1985, three years after the couple moved back to Italy, Maurizio left for a “business trip” and never returned, sending a confidant to notify Patrizia that their marriage was over.
Sheree Loud Credit: Dateline NBC
According to Sheree Loud, who dated Maurizio for five years while he was still legally married to Patrizia, Maurizio wasn’t solely to blame for the split.
“[Patrizia] was unkind, always put him down, didn’t want to do anything that he wanted to do,” Loud tells Dateline in her first TV interview. “He said he didn’t love her anymore. He said he just had had enough.”
Patrizia finalized her divorce from Maurizio in 1994, losing one of her most precious assets: The legal right to use the Gucci surname.
In an exclusive interview with Dateline, her friend, Pina Auriemma, says Patrizia was “more sad and sorry about losing her name” than losing her husband.
Publicly bitter toward Maurizio and disheartened by rumors that he would soon remarry — a measure that would cut her alimony payments in half — Patrizia began to plot his murder with the help Auriemma, who connected her with a hitman.
On March 27, 1995, Maurizio — the family dynasty’s final leader — was shot dead. And Patrizia continued calling herself a Gucci.
Tom Ford ‘laughed out loud’ during House of Gucci screening
Fashion designer Tom Ford has said he “laughed out loud” during a screening of House of Gucci.
While he praised Lady Gaga’s performance as Patrizia Reggiani, Ford, who was the creative director of Gucci between 1994 and 2004, was scathing in his critique of the film.
The Ridley Scott-directed starrer, which has been repeatedly criticised by the Gucci family, tells the story of Reggiani’s doomed marriage to Maurizio Gucci. Reggiani was convicted of ordering his murder after hiring a hitman to kill him.
After watching the film, Ford said that he was “deeply sad for several days” and that it was hard for him to “see the humour and camp” in something that was so bloody. “In real life, none of it was camp,” he said in the digital magazine Air Mail. “I suspect [it] will be a hit,” he wrote. “Splash the Gucci name across things and they usually sell.” Indeed, online searches for Gucci clothes have increased by 73% since the release of the film.
Adam Driver as Maurizio Gucci, left, and Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani in House of Gucci Photograph: Fabio Lovino/AP
Ford, who launched his own company in 2005 after leaving Gucci as well as later directing the films A Single Man and Nocturnal Animals, went on to praise some aspects of the film. He applauded “Gaga’s and [Adam] Driver’s strong performances, powerful over-the-top portrayals by the entire cast, impeccable costumes, stunning sets and beautiful cinematography”.
Today, the Gucci family released a statement, calling the film: “an insult to the legacy on which the brand is built today.” They say that they observed the release of House of Gucci with “some bewilderment.”
“Despite the claim that the work seeks to tell the ‘true story’ of the family, the fears aroused by the trailer and interviews released thus far are confirmed: the film conveys a narrative that is anything but accurate,” reads the statement. It adds that the family reserves: “the right to take any action necessary to protect the name, image and dignity of themselves and their loved ones.”
Addressing the factual accuracy behind the film, director Ridley Scott told Total Film last month: “I tried to be as respectful as possible by being as factual as possible, and as factual as we can possibly imagine.” Scott added: “the story, in a funny kind of way, it’s a satire. And therefore, satire is really a posh way of saying it’s a comedy. And I think a lot of it is comedic. Certainly for the first two acts.”