Sara Gay Forden, author of the Casa Gucci, "I saw my book in the Gucci offices, which makes me think that they have accepted my version of the facts"

If we talk about a story in which broken hearts are mixed, a murder in daylight and heated fights in which brand bags come out of the window, the logical thing would be to think that it is a movie designed by a teamof scriptwriters a little past thread.However, these are the ingredients of the real history of Gucci, a brand that has been able to fall and get up as many times as the intertwined letters g of their logo have been recorded in their designs.That story has now ended on the big screen by Ridley Scott, with a cast as exclusive as the creations of the Italian house: Adam Driver, Jared Leto, Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons and Salma Hayek accompany Lady Gaga on his return to the movies.The singer plays Patrizia Reggiani, sentenced to 18 years for orchestrating the murder of her husband, Maurizio Gucci, whom Driver gives life.

The culprit that all the details of this exciting and complicated story are known is Sara Gay Forden, author of the Gucci house, the book on which the film is based and that, after its release in 2000, returns with an epilogue that explainswhat has happened with the firm since then.«I covered for 15 years the Italian fashion industry from Milan for WWD magazine, so I wrote a lot about Gucci.I soon realized that there was an incredible narrative in his career.At the beginning it was a story too tragic and sad, because the company was sinking.

Maurizio had lost control and, as if that were not enough, his wife was arrested for ordering his murder.Until the firm did not become fashionable thanks to Tom Ford, I was not aware that there was a history of incredible lights and shadows that could narrate.It was Maurizio himself who made me want to tell her, it was the essential figure between the past and the future, ”he says.

«To tell the truth, I always thought about Gucci's story as if it were a movie, because it is full of dramatic scenes, although I never imagined that it would end up being one of these dimensions.Gucci has a concrete mystique, a name and a story, something that makes it unique, ”says Sara.What she ignored is that it would be that mystique and that story that would give a turn to the writing process.«I needed two years to write it;Of these, I dedicated a year and a half just to collect the documentation.

I was immersed in the book when two things happened.On the one hand, the trial for the murder of Maurizio, which had me in court practically for three months.On the other, the battle to get the company ».The author refers to the struggle for buying the Italian firm he faced for two and a half years from François-Henri Pinault (his current owner) and the president of LVMH, Bernard Arnault.

«I met Patrizia when he had already separated and Maurizio was losing control of the company.She was very angry, the interview was criticizing her husband's inability to handle the company.It was a very intense talk that my editors did not want to publish, but I kept all the notes I took, that they came great to write the book.When she was already in jail, we had correspondence, although they did not want a criminal to have access to the media.At that time, his Vision of Maurizio was more affectionate than before;She had loved him intensely, ”he explains.

«When Maurizio wanted to relaunch the brand, he didn't want to talk about the past: he was only interested in the future.However, I managed to order the story.It is an issue that the company has already overcome.In fact, I saw the book in the Gucci offices, which makes me think that they have accepted my version of the facts, ”shares Sara Gay before reflecting on the changes and the present of the Italian firm.«Maurizio was very classic and wanted Gucci to be the Italian Hermès.I wanted their products to be round, brown and soft.That changed when Tom Ford arrived, which made everything square and black.Each creative director brings their vision to the brand and now Alessandro Michele has dived in the files of the past, has updated them and reminded us that fashion is also fun, attracting a new client ».

Does it propose to repeat the experience with another fashion emblem?"It would be a challenge to find a story with so many elements, but there are some projects," acknowledges the author.At the moment, Gucci is not only part of his curriculum;Also from your closet.Sara rented a study in Milan to write the book.A noon, going to eat with some friends, found boxes full of things, that a woman had taken to the streets to throw them.On them, a leather briefcase with Gucci bamboo handle.Sara took that iconic design that now accompanies him on his trips.It could only happen to someone who has diving in the firm's past and who has turned a mundane story into a dignified end of novel.