Rodolfo Gucci, the main role of Maurizio’s father in the expansion of the Gucci company
Maurizio Gucci born from the love story between the mother Sandra Ravel and her father Rodolfo Gucci. What many may not know is that Maurizio’s father was also an important actor and collaborated with some of the most important Italian directors of the time, such as Camerini, for some years. The family business was handed over to him in the difficult post-war period: to be precise, Rodolfo Gucci took over the management of the company’s third store that had recently opened in Milan and became its director. Also thanks to his contribution, the company underwent an important change, with an expansion project that also brought the Gucci brand to America.
Rodolfo’s father had a more measured and buttoned-down approach and together with his brother had to fight to convince him to try to implement the expansion project worldwide. So, in the sixties the company grew a lot and several stores were opened in Italy, and in New York. The first difficulties occurred in the seventies, due to disagreements and some financial problems.
Rodolfo Gucci, Maurizio’s father: from cinema to fashion and back to Hollywood
Maurizio Gucci’s fatherperhaps exhausted by the internal divisions of the company and by the problems that are becoming more intrusive and burdensome to manage, he gradually distanced himself from the business activities, until the decisive change of hands. The decision to step aside was also accelerated Rodolfo’s illness, which left the sight of his son Maurizio.
The latter will remain in charge of the fashion house for about ten years. The father, however, closed the circle with cinematography, making an autobiographical film, Cinema in My Life, shot in Hollywood and released in 1967.