The House Of Gucci was founded by Guccio Gucci in Florence in 1921. Considered today to be one of the most prestigious, and iconic fashion brands in the world, the label has had a rocky history full of family in-fighting. When Guccio passed away in 1953, four of his sons Vasco, Aldo, Ugo and Rodolfo took over the company but every step of the way the company's progress was marred by the brother's inability to agree on anything. The label remained one of the premier luxury goods establishments in the world until the late 1970s, when a series of disastrous business decisions and family quarrels brought the company to the verge of bankruptcy, compounded by the fact that cheap knockoffs of Gucci wares were flooding the market and tarnishing the company name. When Rodolfo died in 1983 the company underwent a huge shake-up spearheaded by his son Maurizio who became the sole family member at the helm of the label. He hired Dawn Mello who had revived Bergdorf Goodman in the '70s as Executive Vice President and Creative Director Worldwide, who in turn attracted the talent of Geoffrey Beene, Calvin Klein and a young college dropout by the name of Tom Ford. It wasn't until Tom Ford took over as Creative Director in 1994 though that the company's fortunes dramatically improved. In his first year at the helm, he was credited with putting the glamour back into fashion introducing Halston-style velvet hipsters, skinny satin shirts and car-finish metallic patent boots. In 1995, he brought in French stylist Carine Roitfeld and photographer Mario Testino to create a series of new, modern ad campaigns for the company. Between 1995 and 1996, sales at Gucci increased by 90%. By 1999, the house, which had been almost bankrupt when Ford joined, was valued at about $4.3bn. Today Gucci is still flourishing under the creative direction of Ford protégé Frida Giannini.