level Penguin Readers Factsheets E Teacher’snotes 1 2 Gucci Business 3 in Fashionss in 4 5 by Paola Trimarco 6 ELEMENTARY SUMMARY his is the story of one of the most famous designs, and Versace, with its more glamorous styles. T fashion houses in the world. Guccio and Aida Other world famous Italian names include Dolce & Gucci opened the first Gucci store in a little street Gabbana, Moschino, Benetton, MaxMara, as well as in Florence in 1921. They sold luggage and leather Prada and Gucci. products for horses. Their children, one daughter and five sons, all helped in the early days of the family The story of Gucci is a good example of how the business, delivering orders to customers by bicycle. fortunes of a business and a family can change over GUCCI BUSINESS IN FASHION Then came the idea for handbags and the famous Gucci nearly a century. Other famous Italian companies have logo. been run by the same family over generations. One is Fiat, The company grew and became known all over Italy. the car company started by Giovanni Agnelli in Turin in After the Second World War Gucci stores opened in 1899. The Agnelli family have enjoyed a similarly colourful America and Japan. People from around the world life. Like Gucci, they have had family battles that have wanted to buy Italian style. been closely followed in the newspapers, violent deaths and corruption. Guccio Gucci had many sons and grandsons, perhaps too many for one business. The ones who joined the Brand names such as Gucci play a powerful role in the business often had different ideas and couldn’t agree. modern world. Many people define themselves or their One grandson left and set up a rival company. Another set lifestyles by the brands they buy, everything from coffee up a store selling only the cheaper products. One son to cell phones, to cola to furniture, and make-up to went to prison because he didn’t pay his taxes. And the handbags is branded. very last Gucci to work in the business, Maurizio, was Companies with famous brands can charge more for murdered in 1995. their products because everybody wants them. But there So people from outside the family came in to run Gucci, are copies, or fakes, too. Often these are made in the Far the American designer Tom Ford and the money man, East, in countries like Thailand and Korea, and shipped to Domenico De Sole. In 1999 they expanded the company. the West for sale in markets. Brands have become a They bought two other fashion companies,Yves St. political issue. And for some people it is more fashionable Laurent and Sergio Rossi. to have a fake Gucci handbag than a real one. There has been a lot of publicity about some of the big companies, ABOUT THE AUTHOR such as Nike and Gap, using cheap labor in the developing world to produce their goods. Some people Dr Paola Trimarco is an Italian American. Her parents have stopped buying some brands because of this. originally came from Salerno in Italy. She has a Famous customers are very important to fashion background in applied linguistics and taught EFL for 10 houses. Soft, casual Armani suits, for example, were not years around the world, including Korea and the United an international success until Richard Gere wore them in States. She writes fiction as well as EFL materials. She the 1980 movie, American Gigolo. Famous Gucci lives near Cambridge in the UK. shoppers over the years have included many of the world’s famous beauties, Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly, BACKGROUND AND THEMES Jackie Kennedy and Sophia Loren. Frank Sinatra bought soft shoes there. Today’s famous shoppers include Kate Italy has a long tradition as a center of fashion. It became Moss, Victoria Beckham and Catherine Zeta Jones, as particularly famous for new and creative ideas after World well as others listed on page 23 of the book. War Two. The second half of the twentieth century was the time when people became more and more interested Many big fashion companies changed in the 1990s. in their personal appearance, and by the 1990s fashion Once the Gucci family was out of Gucci, the new was a global business. Today fashion is Italy’s third largest president, Domenico De Sole, set about rebuilding the industry. Top players include Armani, with its classic business. He knew what the problems with Gucci were – © Pearson Education 2001 level Penguin Readers Factsheets 2 Teacher’snotes stores that looked tired and too many cheap products. Each group then chooses someone in the class to be Gucci products must be luxury items and they must be Guccio. They ask him their questions. Guccio can ask the exclusive to the rich and famous. Some industry people rest of the class to help out if he gets stuck. say that De Sole and Texan designer, Tom Ford, have Pages 7-23 made Gucci into the world’s hottest fashion brand. Only a 1 In pairs, students prepare their own questionnaire decade ago, fashion journalists didn’t bother to turn up to about brand names. They can include questions like Gucci fashion shows. Today they fight for front row seats. these or make up their own: Gucci has continued to make news. First there was the Do you wear Gucci? Armani? DKNY? French two-year legal battle between two French companies for Connection? Benetton? control of Gucci. These two rival companies spent millions Do you like wearing brand names? of dollars in the courts in their fight, which the newspapers Are brand names very important? Important? Not call “the battle of the handbags.” important? Then there was the political issue. In 2001, Gucci, How much money do you spend on clothes each month? famous for its fur and leather products, offered the Then they interview everybody in the class. They can designer, Stella McCartney, her own label. Stella ask people outside the class as well. They add up their McCartney comes from a very famous family. Her father, results and then write sentences about the information Paul McCartney, was one of the Beatles. Her mother, Linda they have. McCartney, was a photographer. But she was more 2 Students work in small groups. They plan some famous for her campaigns for animal rights and her belief advertising for the new Gucci perfume Rush. It can be in vegetarianism. She started a food company selling only for television, radio, magazines or newspapers. Discuss vegetarian products. Stella McCartney campaigns for ideas with the class afterward. animal rights. She is against the use of animal products in Activities before reading the book fashion. But she accepted the offer from Gucci. She said, ACTIVITIES AFTER READING THE BOOK however, that she will never use leather or fur in her Gucci Debate. Is it right to use leather and animal products in label. Some people in the business say she is being fashion clothes? Take a class vote. Write the result on the hypocritical. She is making money from Gucci, who make board. Discuss the information in the Background and most of their money from fur and leather. Themes section about the Gucci designer, Stella McCartney. Divide the class in two. One half prepares The Guccis have such a colorful history that the movie arguments in favor of leather and animal products. The director, Martin Scorsese, is planning a movie about them. other half prepares arguments against. Have the debate. A book called The House of Gucci, by Sara Gay Forden, Take a second vote. Has anyone changed their mind full of stories of murder, madness and glamour, became an international bestseller. Glossary It will be useful for your students to know the following new words. They are practiced in the ‘Before Your Read’ sections of exercises at the back Communicative activities of the book. (Definitions are based on those in the Longman Active Study Dictionary.) The following teacher-led activities cover the same Pages 1-6 sections of text as the exercises at the back of the reader, actor someone performing in a play or movie and supplement those exercises. Further supplementary become to change or get design (v) to draw something that will be made exercises, covering shorter sections of the book, can be fashion a style that is popular for a time found on the photocopiable Student’s Activities pages of leather material from the skin of an animal this Factsheet. These are primarily for use with class logo a design that is a sign for a company readers, but with the exception of pair/groupwork product something that is made to be sold GUCCI BUSINESS IN FASHION questions, can also be used by students working alone in a saddle a seat made if leather to sit on a horse self-access center. stirrup made of metal, for putting your foot through when riding a horse ok success when you win Discussion. Teach your students the word “brand name”. war a period of fighting between armies Ask students if they are wearing any famous brand names. Pages 7-23 Write the names on the board. Do they think brand names advertise showing a product in order to sell it are important? Why? Why not? Would they rather buy one lawyer a person who knows the law and works in a court T-shirt with a brand name or, for the same money, three T- model aomeone whose job it is to wear clothes to show them off shirts without brand names? president the most important person in a country prison a building where people stay who have broken the law Pages 1-6 sales something that is sold, or the money that is made from selling it Students work in pairs or small groups.