Wednesday, May 1, 2024

'House of Gucci' review: Lady Gaga coldly electrifies couture saga Los Angeles Times

house of gucci

The flashy family drama about the scandalous meltdown of its titular fashion empire stars the “Chromatica” artist as Patrizia Reggiani, the real-life Italian socialite who was convicted in 1997 of plotting the murder of her ex-husband. Her former lover, business mogul Maurizio Gucci, is played in the film by Adam Driver. As in any slick bio-fiction, characters have been excised, timelines fudged, perspectives distorted. And yet, even amid the inevitable simplifications and exaggerations, it all coheres, with a kind of implacably grim logic, into an extended cautionary tale about how family and business shouldn’t mix.

Kering CEO Aims to Improve Results by Yearend Amid Gucci Turnaround

This is fun for a while — the movie is more than two and a half hours long — and Gaga and Driver have an interesting chemistry. Maurizio is quiet and a little passive, but Patrizia nudges him toward a bolder idea of himself. He defies his aristocratic father, Rodolfo (an impeccable, sepulchral Jeremy Irons), who regards Patrizia as a social climber and a gold digger. He isn’t altogether wrong, but Maurizio marries her anyway, and finds brief happiness working for his in-laws, trading in his cut-to-measure suits for proletarian coveralls.

Ryanair CEO dishes advice to Boeing on managing its crises: ‘Never put a pilot in charge of an airline’

Giannini proposed clothes with a functional chic and a hefty dose of the essential house glamour. The designer and di Marco, who grew to become partners in life, emphasized the brand’s Italian craftsmanship, archival iconography and jet-set lifestyle. Gucci marks its centenary in 2021, passing through family feuds, take-over attempts, a near-bankruptcy, a public listing, storybook turnarounds and even a murder — which has sparked the Ridley Scott film “House of Gucci” starring Lady Gaga- but the allure of the brand is enduring.

Gucci Sales Drop 18% In Q1 Amid China’s Slowdown And Demand For ‘Quiet Luxury’

She brought Richard Lambertson, head of Bergdorf’s accessories department, to be the design director and in 1990 American designer Tom Ford joined the company to oversee women’s ready-to-wear. A lot of things, really, but mostly a strong idea and a credible reason for existing. The movie opens on March 27, 1995, mere minutes before Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), the fashion house’s former head, is gunned down in Milan by an assassin hired by his vengeful ex-wife, Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga).

Fashion On Screen

House of Gucci ending explained: Adam Driver murder scene breakdown - Entertainment Weekly News

House of Gucci ending explained: Adam Driver murder scene breakdown.

Posted: Wed, 24 Nov 2021 08:00:00 GMT [source]

The famous double-Gs and bamboo handles originated in the 1930s as workarounds of wartime restrictions. Hayek, who plays Auriemma in “House of Gucci,” is married to François-Henri Pinault, CEO of Kering, the luxury group that currently owns Gucci. According to a recent story in the Hollywood Reporter, it was Pinault who gave the production permission to use the Gucci name and access to the company’s archives. In 1993, after Maurizio sold his 50% interest in Gucci to the same investment firm he had brought in to buy up his relatives’ shares, there would no longer be anyone from the Gucci family involved in running Gucci.

She clashes with Aldo over the firm's clandestine sale of cheap "fake" Gucci products on the black market, and consults Giuseppina "Pina", a psychic, for guidance on how to manipulate Maurizio, who has little real interest in Gucci, into taking a more active role within the company. In Italy 1978, Patrizia Reggiani is the office manager of her father's small trucking firm. At a party, she meets Maurizio Gucci, a law student and heir to a 50% interest in the Gucci fashion house through his father Rodolfo. The world premiere of House of Gucci was held at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square in London on November 9, 2021. The film received mixed reviews from critics who praised the cast's performances but criticized the inconsistent tone and editing.

“We were a beautiful couple and we had a beautiful life, of course,” Reggiani later tells The Guardian. As the carriage trade swaps horses for horsepower, Gucci shifts focus from saddlery to luxury goods, marking the modern incarnation of the company. In advance of the release of the film, here’s a brand timeline from its origins to Tom Ford’s 1990s arrival. A snaffle of red and green stripe dressed up a loafer, which in turn dressed up a total look. Many of you will by now have seen the clip from Ridley Scott’s upcoming House of Gucci in which Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani confronts her husband Maurizio Gucci, played by Adam Driver, saying “Gucci’s not exciting and everybody knows it.” He replies, “At least it’s my name, sweetie.” “Our name, sweetie,” Reggiani retorts.

Highlighted in this new location is the Signoria slingbacks displayed in the iconic Rosso Ancora red shade, a standout piece from the latest collection. In recent years, Gucci has undergone a significant overhaul, which includes adapting to the “quiet luxury” fashion trend—a contrast to Gucci’s long-standing maximalist image—and appointing a new creative director in 2022, followed by a new CEO in 2023. French conglomerate Kering—owner of Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta and other luxury brands—reported on Tuesday a 10% drop in first-quarter sales, as its star label Gucci faces slowdown in China and undergoes a leadership overhaul. The Killing Eve actress plays Italian interior designer Paola Franchi, who was dating Maurizio Gucci at the time of his death. The Marriage Story actor stars as Maurizio Gucci, the former head of the Gucci fashion house (and Patrizia's ex-husband) who was assassinated in March 1995. “Gucci is a label built on a carefully concocted air of tasteful luxury, but House of Gucci is a movie that mostly understands itself to be high-end trash,” writes Alison Willmore.

House of Gucci review – Lady Gaga murders in style in true-crime fashion house drama - The Guardian

House of Gucci review – Lady Gaga murders in style in true-crime fashion house drama.

Posted: Mon, 22 Nov 2021 08:00:00 GMT [source]

house of gucci

Also in the mix is Aldo’s son Paolo, brought to life by Jared Leto, whose outrageous (and extremely fun) gaudiness single-handedly earns the aforesaid “rock concert” analogy. Leto’s approach to the role instantly proves apt for Paolo, an incompetent businessman wannabe and an aspiring fashion designer with little taste and even less talent. Spite and bad-blood brew amongst the clan throughout the story that spans three decades, especially after Patrizia sneakily talks Maurizio out of his law school dreams, muscles her way into the family business, and turns her husband against pretty much every member of the family. Through it all, Salma Hayek’s naive psychic Pina guides the increasingly distraught queen-bee Patrizia with prophecies about the future, lending the film some of its most hysterical scenes. “Then what’s the problem,” you might rightfully ask about a campy package that sounds wholly entertaining on a fashion-soaked, star-studded, feast-for-the-eyes canvas?

“[A]t the center of it all is Gaga’s Patrizia, who Maurizio declares is a dead ringer for Elizabeth Taylor. “Gaga’s face is avid and open, with a fervor that volts through her eyes; she has a born actress’s gift for letting you read her emotions while holding a nugget of mystery in check,” writes Owen Gleiberman. Gucci is sure to get an extra dose of attention from the “House of Gucci” movie being filmed in Italy and expected to premiere in theaters on Nov. 24, with Lady Gaga playing Patrizia Reggiani, Adam Driver as Maurizio Gucci and Al Pacino in the role of Aldo Gucci. Although she openly admitted hating her ex-husband, she denied ever wanting to kill him.

Gaga and Leto were nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award, Critics' Choice Award, and Satellite Award for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor, respectively, while the former also received nominations for the Golden Globe Award and BAFTA Award. The film earned a nomination at the 94th Academy Awards for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Scott wanted to make a film about the Gucci dynasty after acquiring rights to Forden's book in the early 2000s. The project languished for several years, with a number of directors and rumored actors being considered before Scott and Gaga became officially attached in November 2019.

The element of sensationalism isn’t lost on Forden, who began writing about the Gucci family’s drama as the chief business correspondent for WWD, later drawing on her years of reporting to write her book. To do this, Bentivegna supplemented his use of Forden’s text with Italian articles from the time about the Gucci family’s public dramas, which he said took on a “tabloid sensationalism” especially surrounding Maurizio’s murder, which was later revealed to be a crime of passion, organized by Patrizia herself. Later, he asks her for a divorce through his long-time assistant Domenico De Sole, which she flatly refuses. Maurizio recruits up-and-coming designer Tom Ford to revitalize the company's image through a new line.

Amid significant change, Gucci has embarked on a creative—and leadership—overhaul, which is yet to be successful. With the departure of Gucci’s star designer, Alessandro Michele, in 2022, whose flamboyant designs previously propelled the brand to new heights, the Italian brand appointed Sabato De Sarno as the next creative director. Sarno has embodied the “quiet luxury” trend with a more subdued and minimalist fashion, but its success remains to be seen in China, a market from which it derives more than a third of its sales. “The jury is out on whether the Chinese will like the Sabato De Sarno quiet luxury,” wrote Bernstein analyst Luca Solca in his recent note.

No comments:

Post a Comment

10 Microservices Design Patterns for Developers Capital One Capital One Tech

Table Of Content Microservices Design Patterns for Performance Monitoring essential Microservices design pattern to create robust, scalable,...