Doing a Gucci: the transformation of an Italian fashion firm into a global powerhouse in a 'Los Angeles-izing' world

In this article, I examine the 1990s transformation of the Italian firm Gucci from near bankruptcy into a global powerhouse as the owner of world's third most valuable fashion brand. In the process, I point to some of the profit making, wealth producing and monopoly rent yielding strategies behind this dramatic transformation paying special attention to a strategy that I call 'enhancing reality'. This strategy includes the manner in which Gucci appropriates the place image of Los Angeles (without actually being located there) and thus provides critical insights into the debates on the pervasiveness of geography in brand-making.