This Gucci Heir Wants to Build a Luxury Brand for the 21st Century
A century ago, Guccio Gucci opened a boutique in Florence, Italy, that sold high-end leather luggage to well-heeled travelers. He infused his brand with all kinds of unique design elements that would become iconic, including the double-G insignia and bamboo handles. Guccio’s oldest son, Aldo, would go on to transform the label into one of the best-known luxury brands in the world, alongside Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Prada.
Aldo’s granddaughter, Alexandra Gucci Zarini, heard a lot about the origins of her family’s business around the dining table when she was growing up. She wanted to follow in her great-grandfather’s footsteps by becoming a fashion designer. But by the time she was in design school, the Guccis no longer controlled their namesake brand. In 1993, the family sold its stake to a Bahrain-based company that took it public. By 1999, the French luxury conglomerate Kering (formerly Pinault-Printemps-Redoute) had acquired a controlling 42% stake in Gucci for $3 billion. Within five years, that stake grew to 99.4%.
“I wanted to be just like my grandfather,” Zarini says. “I wanted to create something long-lasting and meaningful. But my family wasn’t involved in the company anymore and so I went on with my life.”
Zarini went on to do other things, including working at a family office and an art gallery, before becoming a stay-at-home mother. But two years ago, Zarini decided it was finally time for her to rekindle her dream: She cofounded her own handbag brand, called AGCF (which stands for Alexandra Gucci Creative Framework) with her husband, Josef Zarini. It produces luxury handbags priced between $1,000 and $3,000, along with small leather goods and jewelry. She launched her newest handbag collection, which features structured silhouettes that are subtly reminiscent of her great-grandfather’s original designs, earlier this spring.
In many ways, the past two years have been a chance for Zarini and her husband to test the waters with their nascent brand—and now they’re ready to scale. They’re beginning to explore partnerships with department stores and other retailers around the world. Zarini’s goal is to appeal to a new kind of luxury customer, one who prefers quiet luxury to big brands. But there are also some customers who long for the old Gucci and are drawn to AGCF’s design language. “There’s a little hint of Gucci there, but it’s also a distinctly different brand,” Zarini says. “It’s a brand reimagined for today.”
And indeed, AGCF provides luxury shoppers an alternative to Gucci, which is currently on a downward spiral. Last year, Gucci revenue declined by 23% from the year before to $8.6 billion. This weakened Kering’s earnings, which were down 12% to $17.8 billion. This year, Gucci’s first-quarter sales continued to tumble by 25%. In March, Gucci announced that it had appointed Demna, the creative director of Balenciaga for the past 10 years, to become its new artistic director, starting in July 2025. Given that Demna is known for pursuing the avant-garde, rather than the traditional, AGCF may offer a compelling option to fans of old-school Gucci.
To read the full article, click here