Gucci is an Italian luxury brand founded in Florence, Italy – a region of the country known for making high-quality leather products.
Besides leather goods, such as bags and shoes, Gucci specializes in ready-to-wear clothes for men, women, and children, accessories, fragrances, and cosmetics.
As an Italian brand, are Gucci products actually made in Italy? Let’s found out!
Here Is Where Gucci Products Are Made:
According to the Kering Group, the French company that owns Gucci, 95% of the brand’s manufacturers are in Italy. Gucci has several factories in Italy, specifically in Tuscany, Scandicchi, Marche, and Padua, and recently in the Piemonte region.
What Gucci Products Are Made In Italy?
The majority of Gucci products are made in Italy. This is according to the Kering Group when it shared with the public where Gucci products were made.
All Gucci bags, accessories, and home decor products are made in Italy. The same goes for most clothing items for men, women, and kids, plus a good percentage of its footwear.
Gucci owns several factories in different regions of Italy. The biggest manufacturing sites are in Scandicci, Tuscany, and Marche regions.
All of Gucci’s leather materials are sourced from leather factories in Prato – a city in Tuscany. Prato is a well-known hub for leather workshops and mills, where big luxury designer brands get their materials.
In 2021, Gucci also opened a new manufacturing site in Trecate, located in Northern Italy, specifically in the Piemonte region. This new hub is close to Milan, the brand’s headquarters.
Some of Gucci’s eyewear is also made in Italy. In the Veneto region, Gucci eyewear is made by Safilo Group, based in Padua.
Safilo Group is an Italian brand mainly focused on producing and developing eyewear for Gucci and all other brands in the Kering Group.
What Gucci Products Are Made Outside Italy?
Not all Gucci products are made in Italy.
A small percentage of the brand’s manufacturers and suppliers are based in countries like Switzerland, Spain, and France.
Gucci outsources to other countries for some of its products to streamline the production process and ensure they are of excellent quality. This, of course, does not affect the brand’s DNA.
While it is no doubt that Italian manufacturers produce some of the best quality leather products, other countries tend to excel in other industries. For example, the Swiss are known in the watch industry. Thus, it only makes sense that Gucci watches are manufactured in Switzerland.
Here are the Gucci products that are made outside Italy:
Watches
Gucci manufactures its watches, but they are made in Switzerland.
Since the creation and launch of the first collection of Gucci timepieces in 1972, they have been manufactured in Switzerland. Gucci has its own manufacturing hub for watches in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
If you looked closely at a Gucci watch, you would see it has Swiss-made labels. These watches also use movements made by Swiss companies like Sellita or ETA.
Footwear
While much Gucci footwear is manufactured in Italy, some are made in Spain. Spain is one of the biggest exporters of shoes in Europe.
All materials for Gucci footwear are made in Italy, but the construction and assembly for some of the shoes are done in Spain.
Jackets
Almost all of Gucci’s ready-to-wear clothing items for men, women, and children are made in Italy’s manufacturing sites, but some jackets are manufactured in Vietnam.
Gucci collaborates with brands like The North Face, and jackets from this collection are made in Vietnam.
Perfume
As Gucci is primarily a leather-goods company, it chooses to outsource the production of its perfumes.
Coty, a French-American multinational beauty company, makes Gucci perfumes.
Coty has manufacturing sites in the UK, Thailand, Russia, France, Germany, Spain, Monaco, Brazil, and China. Gucci perfumes are specifically manufactured in Coty’s hub in France.
Make-Up and Skincare
Apart from perfume, Gucci’s cosmetic products also include make-up and skincare.
Coty also makes these products in its manufacturing site in France.
Eyewear
While Gucci has a manufacturing site in Padua, Italy, for its eyewear, some of its eyewear can also be made in Japan.
Even though the Safilo Group is an Italian company, it also has a manufacturing site in Japan.
Where Does Gucci Get its Fabric and Materials From?
Since most of the brand’s manufacturers are based in Italy and scattered in different regions, it is also where it gets its fabrics and materials.
The internal facilities in Gucci’s manufacturing supply chain are owned and directly managed by the brand. Meanwhile, its external facilities are owned and managed by trusted suppliers that excel in their respective industries.
Gucci gets its fabrics and materials mainly from Italian suppliers.
When it comes to bags, shoes, and leather goods, Gucci gets all its leather materials from workshops, mills, and factories in Prato in Tuscany. Prato is a city well-known in the leather industry as a hub for leather factories and mills.
The economy of Prato has been mainly through the textile industry, with 2 billion Euros obtained just from exporting leather goods and materials. Prato is the largest textile district in Europe, comprised of around 7000 companies revolving around fashion and the production of leather goods.
Still, some materials are sourced from suppliers outside of Italy. One example is cotton.
Some Gucci clothing items are made of cotton, and for this, Gucci gets the fabric from an American cotton company called Supima. This company produces cotton fabrics of superior quality and is the supplier for many other luxury fashion brands.
Does Gucci Produce Their Own Products? Learn more about their manufacturing here!
Where Is Gucci Eyewear Made?
Gucci eyewear is either made in Italy or Japan. Both countries are well-known in the fashion industry for producing well-made glasses.
All Gucci eyewear is made by the Safilo Group – an Italian company specializing in designing and manufacturing high-quality sunglasses, prescription eyewear, ski goggles, and sports eyewear. It has 5 house brands and a total of 32 licensed brands.
Safilo Group has its headquarters and manufacturing site in Padua, Italy. It also has a manufacturing site in Tokyo, Japan. This is why Gucci eyewear is made either in Italy or Japan.
Gucci also utilizes Japan to manufacture parts of their eyewear, not to cut down on manufacturing costs but to utilize Japanese expertise in eyewear. One good example of this is the titanium frames – wherein the best ones are made in Japan.
Check the temples to know where your Gucci eyewear is made. It should indicate if it is made in Italy or Japan.
Do All Gucci Products Say “Made In Italy”?
Since most Gucci products are made in Italy, you would expect that their labels indicate just that.
All Gucci handbags, purses, and wallets are made in Italy, so these items would say “Made in Italy” on the label. The same goes for ready-to-wear clothing items, accessories, and home decor items.
Meanwhile, Gucci watches are manufactured in Switzerland, which says differently on the labels or the packaging. You would see that Gucci watches have a Swiss-made label on them.
Fragrances and cosmetics are produced in France, so these products would not say they are made in Italy. Meanwhile, sunglasses and eyeglasses would say “Made in Italy” or “Made in Japan,” depending on which manufacturing hub they are made in.
All Gucci products that are designed and produced in Italy would say “Made in Italy,” – which brings a certain prestige to the brand as it shows the excellent craftsmanship of each product.
Are Any Gucci Products Made In China?
While there are hearsays that some Gucci products are made in China, this is actually not true.
China may have numerous factories that can produce anything but NONE of Gucci’s products is made in China.
More than 90% of Gucci’s manufacturing sites are located in Italy, while the rest are in Spain, Switzerland, France, and Japan. The labels of any authentic Gucci product should indicate where they are made.
If you see a Gucci product that says “Made in China,” it is a counterfeit item, you’d do well to steer clear of it.
Does Gucci Use Sweatshops?
Several years ago, there was a claim that Gucci had been hiring workers in Italy’s Little China district in Tuscany, where they were paid 2 Euros an hour.
These workers were said to be illegal immigrants, mostly from China, who would do almost anything to earn a living.
According to this claim, this has been going on for more than 15 years in the city of Prato in the Tuscany province, which has more than 4,000 fashion factories for different brands, including luxury designer ones.
This city is also said to be home to 25,000 low-wage workers, wherein 1 out of 5 are undocumented immigrants living in Italy. This city also has the second-largest Chinese population in Europe.
The claim that Gucci and other designer brands have their goods manufactured by illegal Chinese workers was published in a New York Times article in 2007.
However, in Gucci’s revised Code of Ethics, the company maintains its commitment to respecting and valuing human rights.
The company reaffirms that all their employees and the rest of their workforce are operating and working in acceptable conditions, as they contribute largely to the brand’s success.
Sources:
Where Are Gucci Products Made? (Detailed Answer In 2022)