Gucci tours the US
Italian luxury leathergoods brand Gucci is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year with a tour to show off craftsmanship. The Artisan Corner tour is “a new retail event that transports the craftsmanship of Gucci’s Florentine leathergoods factory,” according to the company’s website.
Since it started in 2009, the Artisan Corner tour has been to Japan and Europe and is currently in the US. In the tour are artisans from Gucci’s Florence factory who stop off at select stores to create custom-built Gucci workshops where they assemble and finish some of the label’s best-known handbags.
“This initiative offers a unique insight into Gucci’s time honored traditions as clients can witness first-hand the superb craftsmanship involved in producing every item in Gucci’s leather goods collection: artisans hand-stitch handles, assemble bamboo handles, prepare leather strips for woven stitching and hand emboss customer’s initials during the events,” reads a statement on the website.
“It’s the travelling show of what happens in the factory in Florence,” said spokesman Matthew Sebra.
Visitors to the stores can see the artists complete the final steps of the assembly process, which require between 80 and 120 individual pieces of leather.
“We haven’t changed much about how we go about constructing our bags,” said Mr Sebra.
