Although there are many other luxury fashion brands on the market, Gucci stands out as one of the most popular of these brands, along with Louis Vuitton. But what exactly makes Gucci one of the popular brands of luxury goods?
Just to put things into perspective and to make sense of why and just how Gucci continues to dominate the luxury fashion scene, a report by the Lyst Index reported that there were 5 million online shoppers running online searches for fashion and shoppers that bought fashion from across the 12,000 leading designers and online stores.
Put into context, this report shows that more than 6 million people browsed online for Gucci belts, bags, or shoes, all between October and December of 2018.
The most recent numbers from the brand, however, show that the brand has a global revenue of $13.66 billion.And in the most interesting turn of events, the biggest market for Gucci appears to be millennials.
Though unexpected, Gucci seems to have tapped into and won the hearts of millennials through the use of robust internet marketing strategies, also how the company has integrated its digital ecosystems and the in-store experiences, which are presented by Gucci’s true omnichannel, the most advanced/ responsive customer experience, as well as agnostic channels.
The biggest contributor to the success of Gucci – they nearly doubled their sales in 2018, with consumers under the age of 35 accounting to as much as 55 of these sales – has to be the hiring of a millennial as the brand’s creative director.
Gucci’s creative director Alessandro Michele fueled the success of the brand among millennials through the showcase of fashion with pop culture references and the introduction of fresh designs.
And with celebrities like Kylie Jenner and Lil Pump wearing Gucci in their music and on Instagram, the brand was set up for success.
But that is not all; there was also the resurgence of beloved fashion trends from the 90s, something that made the younger consumers want to wear fashion styles that existed as they grew up. Now, they could wear them.
In the next sections, we’ll break down the top reasons for the popularity of Gucci.
First, a few basic details about Gucci
Gucci was founded in Florence, Italy, in 1921 by Guccio Gucci. Today, the company is run by Marco Bizzarri, who is the CEO.
While it has a global presence, Gucci is still headquartered in Florence, Italy. Now, like most of the successful and historic fashion brands and fashion houses.
Gucci started out as a luggage manufacturing company focusing on the production and sale of luxury travel goods that were sold to Italy’s upper class and the wealthy. They sold equestrian equipment too.
The meaning of Gucci’s Logo
One of the reasons for the popularity of the Gucci brand can be attributed to the brand’s logo.
Gucci is easy to recognize because of their logo and their branding in general. The logo was designed by Aldo Gucci, Guccio’s son, when he joined the business in 1933.
He designed the logo using the two G’s in direct reference to Guccio Gucci’s initials.
This turned into an artistic and the most memorable way of making the significance of the brand’s founder felt and represented in what can only be said to be a visually timeless manner.
So, what does Gucci mean?
Over the years, Gucci has grown as and into a symbol of abundance, and not just because it’s the name of this luxury fashion house, but also as a slang term.
In the latter, Gucci is used to describe someone or something ‘doing well.’ This term can be traced back to a number of singers and rappers like Kanye West and Cardi B.
On top of that, Gucci is used to make reference to the brand’s history around opulence and boldness.
This has similarly meant and been used as one of the most consistent sources of inspiration for most artists and rappers.
What makes the brand popular?
1.It’s penetrated the millennials market
As mentioned above, Gucci is one of the brands loved by millennials, and in 2018, millennials contributed to more than 50% of the sales by the brand.
With millennials accepting and embracing Gucci’s fashion, it meant that the rest of the younger generations would quickly follow suit.
This is the case today, and with the aggressive and smart marketing approaches adopted by the company, Gucci’s popularity has almost doubled, which is a great thing for the fashion house.
2.The richness in History, Origin, and Heritage
The primary reason for the popularity of the Gucci brand has to be the rich heritage, history, and origins of Gucci.
Unlike other luxury brands that start off small without a distinct identifier, Gucci started with its foundation set at the House of Gucci that was laid in 1921 by Guccio Gucci in Florence, Italy.
As mentioned above, Gucci started as a brand of high-end fashion luggage and travel bags. What we didn’t mention is that Guccio first worked with some of the premium brands in London, like the Savoy Hotel, and it was from his experience in London that his passion was ignited.
His mission was simple, though – to create a similar high-end Italian company that is infused with flavors of the English Aristocracy.
So, when he got back to Italy, he was on a mission, and he came up with iconic designs inspired by the best of British nobility – at the time.
So, the horse detailing seen in most of Gucci’s pieces across their range of luxury products pays homage to the brand’s earliest days when aristocrats would wear equestrian gear and similar fashion accessories.
The equestrian features were also placed on the iconic Gucci loafer, the one that now occupies a special place at the New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art – at the Costume Institute.
3.Global Brand Reputation
You do not become one of the most popular fashion brands without having a global presence. And just like Louis Vuitton, Gucci is now one of the most popular and famous luxury fashion brands because it’s known worldwide, and also because Gucci’s reputation goes beyond fashion.
Gucci’s target audience includes the automotive industry, music, makeup industry, as well as furniture buyers.
All these are a result of the unique designs, highest-quality manufacturing standards, and smart marketing.
4.Excellent Quality of Materials and Adherence to the highest manufacturing standards
The other big reason for the popularity of Gucci has to do with the highest quality products, which is essentially why people would pay all that money for a Gucci belt or shirt. Gucci T-shirts and Polo shirts, for example, cost upwards of $500 a piece, and though you may argue that you could buy a non-designer shirt for less than $50 or $20, the truth is that the quality of Gucci products is unmatched.
Gucci boasts an elaborate manufacturing process featuring comprehensive quality tests; all meant to ensure that you are buying actual luxury.
You may have bought high-quality products before, but once you try luxury, there is no going back. People who understand this and the fact that Gucci’s products are made of hand-picked materials are the reason why Gucci is a popular brand.
The use of great quality materials and use of specific manufacturing processes make their products highly desirable.
What you may not know is that Gucci products made in Italy and the European countries are often in very high demand because they are the crème and the quality is unmatched, unlike what’s made in other countries, like Bangladesh where the labor might not be as skilled.
And for all their pieces, there are stitches and designs that are only created perfectly when they are handcrafted, which is what makes most of their products the best on the luxury goods market. The products also last long because of the attention to detail, especially in the high-stress areas.
Top these with the knowledge that Gucci employs the best talents and the best of the best for their fashion designers; the popularity and the high price tag of the brand make sense.
5.Exclusivity
The name Gucci is synonymous with Clientele exclusivity. While the company could have opted to mass produce their products and make them more available to everyone, it’s clear that Gucci has made it their mission to produce limited quantities of their products at that high price range.
As a result, a select few can buy genuine Gucci products, with these few having exclusive ownership of the few products by the brand.
6.Their brand image equals wealth
Even the brand’s marketing ads show that the Gucci brand is the brand that will always charge people as much as they are willing to pay.
The same case goes for Louis Vuitton and all other luxury brands selling equally expensive products.
This marketing strategy boosts the popularity of the brand, but most importantly, it shows that they do not cater to or target all buyers, creating a form of client selectivity while driving up the brand image.
Gucci also banks on a unique marketing strategy that allows only the upper class to emphasize their prestige and status.
7.They are trendy
Although not all wealthy people wear Gucci and some avoid them because of the big labels, most of the young people attracted to and buying Gucci do that because Gucci products are trendy.
Of course, some of the pieces by Gucci look ridiculous to the rest of us, but for most people into fashion crazes, these products are trendy and fashionable, and this pushes the brand’s popularity further.
Conclusion
Not everyone wears Gucci, and it might not be your style, but there is no denying the fact that Gucci makes and sells some of the most popular products on the market today.
The high-price tag notwithstanding, pop culture, and the need to look wealthy are the biggest reasons why Gucci is so popular.
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Stephanie is a jewelry lover when she was a teenager. Her major was fashion design when she was in college. She is a jewelry designer at SOQ Jewelry and other design companies. Now she is also a writer for our website. She writes a lot of designs&brands posts with very actionable tips.