House of Gucci by Sara Gay Forden (Review by Jennifer Holmes)

4 stars
I was really interested in reading House of Gucci because I remember the scandal following the murder of Maurizio back in 1995. Gucci is an iconic brand that can be identified by the famous red and green stripe going down beautiful handbags and leather goods. What started with luggage and bags transformed into elegant scarves and luxurious loafers and clothes made from only the best of fabrics. Although most people can identify the logo, many have no clue about the family who started this brand. They were greedy, self-serving, and really terrible businessmen. A family who didn’t like change and would backstab his/her own relatives to get ahead.

The book is extremely well written as the author Sara Gay Forden was a reporter for Woman’s Wear Daily during this time period and an expert on high end brands. Sara reported on the success and scandal around the Gucci family starting with the legend Guccio Gucci. Two brothers who each owned half of the company and their namesakes who would fail miserably in business. Maurizio who became so greedy and lost touch with who he was that his life was taken by a hit man hired by his own wife.

I found this book very interesting and learned so much about the Gucci brand I didn’t know. I recommend House of Gucci to anyone who loves the brand, books about real-life family scandal, nonfiction, and crime novels. Now I really want to go see the movie and watch the story come to life.