Gucci to move its design office to Milan

Although founded in Florence, where its central headquarters is still located, the style office of Gucci has been based in Rome since 2009. This month, the fashion house announced that it will move to Milan in March 2024, a change that has led to almost all the company's employees currently protesting against the new decision. Out of 219 workers, as stated in a release, 153 will be relocated in the first half of the next year. Rome holds great significance for the brand. It's where Gucci opened its second store after Florence in 1938 on Via Condotti, just steps away from Piazza di Spagna. The capital city is also where the fashion house began building a strong connection with Cinecittà and the world of cinema, enabling the brand to attract customers worldwide. While the historic headquarters in Florence remains the center of Gucci's craftsmanship and production, with the inauguration of the ArtLab for leather goods and footwear in Scandicci in 2018, the most significant structure for the brand in Milan is the Gucci Hub on Via Mecenate, opened in 2016. Currently, it houses Milanese offices, global showrooms, fashion shows, and graphic and photographic studios on 378,000 square meters.

The style offices in Rome at Palazzo Alberini and Palazzo Mancini will not be closed. The first is a nine-story palace designed by Raphael on Via del Banco di Santo Spirito, serving as the design office since 2009 when the creative director was Frida Giannini. The second, Palazzo Mancini, is a seventeenth-century building with richly frescoed vaults on Via del Corso. Gucci stated that the decision to move was a business choice, specifying that it was not a change requested by the new creative director, Sabato De Sarno. A spokesperson for the fashion house confirmed the move to WWD: "In Milan, the creative director and the involved teams will have the opportunity to collaborate closely with the strategic functions of the company already present in the city." While a statement from Gucci addressed the ongoing protests by employees in Rome:

"Gucci informs that this move was announced to the unions at the beginning of October. It does not involve any staff reduction and will be carried out in full compliance with current regulations. In this regard, the company has introduced a series of measures, including both economic incentives and active support, aimed at facilitating the relocation of all employees involved. These measures are significantly more favorable than those provided for in the Italian national collective labor agreement."