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The curse of classic 63m sailing yacht Creole

In the words of veteran photographer Gilles Martin-Raget, Creole  is “a boat outside all the norms of size, aesthetics and history”. Certainly, at 63.03 metres, the three-masted schooner is rated the world’s largest wooden sailing yacht and her beauty is unquestionable. Yet it is the word “history” that resonates here because Creole ’s back story is interlaced with suicide, jealousy and murder – beyond most norms, certainly.

Sailors tend to be superstitious souls and “the curse of Creole ” is a phrase not unknown in yachting lore. It seemed it had struck again when it was reported from Italy that the vessel’s owners, Alessandra and Allegra Gucci, were being investigated for alleged tax dodging. How is it possible, a rational person might ask, for a boat to infect its owners with ill fortune? How indeed.

Yet deep scrutiny of Creole ’s past reveals some strange facts, including an episode in which a medium was hired to exorcise “evil influences”. And a highly respected Italian newspaper once carried a headline that claimed “The Creole betrayed Maurizio Gucci”, her then owner and father of Alessandra and Allegra.

The omens were not good when it took three attempts to break the magnum of Champagne on the bow of the big schooner when she was christened Vira at Camper & Nicholsons ’ yard in Gosport, Hampshire. It was 1927 and the vessel was considered a masterpiece of her time, not least by her architect, the esteemed Charles E Nicholson . The yacht was at the forefront of design and technology, with two generators, electric refrigeration and central heating throughout her apartment-sized suites.

But trouble began early on. When her owner, the immensely wealthy US carpet manufacturer Alexander Smith Cochran, saw the towering rig he quailed. It would be unmanageable, he said, and ordered the yard to shorten her spars by three metres. It was not enough, he maintained, after the work was done. Cut them down some more.

Vira finally left Gosport with a stumpy rig that didn’t suit her ballast. Lead was taken out at a yard in Spain, but they overdid it and she became hopelessly tender. Then, the frustrated and unhappy Cochran was struck down by tuberculosis. He died a year later, aged 55.

Vira was sold to South Coast yachtsman Maurice Pope, who renamed her Creole , apparently after a particularly delicious dessert created by his chef. In 1937 she was bought by financier Sir Connop Guthrie, who had just been made a baronet. Guthrie was a dedicated sailor who restored Creole ’s rig and keel and raced her successfully until the outbreak of WWII in 1939.

Guthrie loaned Creole to the Admiralty and, with her rig removed and her deckworks changed to accept armament, she became the mine-hunter Magic Circle .

Guthrie died, aged 63, in 1945, the year that Magic Circle was returned to his family. She became Creole once more but was almost unrecognisable after her war service. Following the death of Sir Connop she languished in a sorry state until spotted by Stavros Niarchos, the Greek shipping tycoon.

It was 1947 and Niarchos, like his great rival Aristotle Onassis, was growing fabulously rich thanks to the post-war shipping boom. He snapped up the forlorn schooner and began a restoration that would cost many millions but which returned Creole to the beautifully appointed and wickedly fast yacht her designer had intended.

Niarchos added the capacious varnished deckhouse Creole has today and her cabins were hung with valuable works from his art collection. She became his floating home for long periods; his most treasured possession and, ultimately, a silent witness to tragedy and a sensational mystery.

As Creole ’s restoration began, Niarchos courted Eugenia Livanos, the beautiful 21-year-old daughter of another shipping magnate. They were married, had four children and, despite his affairs, remained together.

In May 1970, they were on holiday on Niarchos’s private island, Spetsopoula, in the Aegean. With them was Athina – Tina – Onassis, Eugenia’s sister. What happened on the night of 3 May is, to this day, the subject of speculation and dark whispers, but the official version is that Eugenia killed herself with an overdose of barbiturates. At a post mortem on the mainland, the pathologist reported severe bruising on Eugenia’s body and the prosecutor in Piraeus began an investigation.

Niarchos became a suspect but he was later exonerated. According to some sources, he was cleared after the intervention of Greece’s ruling military junta, with which he had close links. It later emerged, in an account said to have been based on the testimony of a witness who was on the island, that Eugenia had caught Niarchos trying to force himself upon Tina, her sister, and a violent fight broke out.

In another account, Eugenia was said to have taken a lethal overdose in her cabin aboard Creole . What is certain is that Creole was used to bring Eugenia’s body back from the mainland to Spetsopoula, where she was buried in the Niarchos family mausoleum.

The death of Eugenia ended Niarchos’s love affair with Creole . He went on to marry Tina and sold the yacht, in 1977, to the Danish government for use as a sail training vessel for youngsters, including those in a drugs rehabilitation programme. Such work took a heavy toll; after five years, the cost of maintaining Creole was more than the Danes could justify and a new owner was sought.

In 1982 the schooner – then well over half a century old – began the phase of her life that continues today. She was bought by Maurizio Gucci, whose lavish spending surpassed everything even Niarchos had done. And, it must be said, the horror that was to unfold transcended, too, the tragedy that had befallen Creole ’s previous owner.

When Maurizio Gucci bought Creole he was 35 and already on his way to heading the renowned Gucci family fashion house. He was married to Patrizia Reggiana, the daughter of a Milan businessman and mother of Allegra and Alessandra. Patrizia was one of Milan’s great beauties, an Elizabeth Taylor lookalike, with violet eyes and a captivating smile. She was also unashamedly materialistic. “I’d rather weep in a Rolls-Royce than laugh on a bicycle,” she once said.

Despite being rather hard-nosed, Patrizia was deeply superstitious and stories about the “curse of Creole ” troubled her. She persuaded Maurizio to hire Frida, a medium and practising psychic, to exorcise the evil spirits Patrizia believed haunted the yacht.

The episode is detailed in Sara Gay Forden’s acclaimed book,  The House of Gucci . Forden wrote that Frida “went into a trance” and walked through  Creole  mumbling incomprehensibly. “Open the door, open the door,” Frida cried out suddenly as Maurizio and Patrizia looked at each other, puzzled. They were standing in an open corridor; there was no door. But the Sicilian crewmember turned ashen. Before the restoration of  Creole , there had been a door in that very spot, he said.

Forden goes on to say that Frida pointed to a place where, the psychic said, Eugenia Niarchos’s body had been found. Then she snapped out of her trance, said, “It’s all over” and declared  Creole  “free of evil spirits”.

Malign forces were at work, however. The Gucci family was tearing itself apart, riven by jealousy and resentment over ownership of the celebrated brand and the millions it was earning. Maurizio was accused of buying  Creole  by illegally diverting funds through a Panama-based company. The police and fiscal investigators launched an inquiry. In June 1987, the Italian papers were full of it. “Gucci in a storm over a dream yacht; arrest warrants issued” ran a headline in  La Repubblica . “The _Creole _betrayed Maurizio Gucci” was the banner in  Corriere della Sera .

Creole was sailed out of Italian waters to Mallorca to put her beyond the reach of the police and Maurizio made his own escape by riding his red Kawasaki motorcycle over the border into Switzerland.

In 1988 Maurizio was indicted for illegally exporting the money he had used to buy Creole , then was swiftly acquitted because changes in the law meant capital export was no longer a criminal offence. He rode out numerous legal storms and eventually returned to Italy, where he sold his shares in Gucci for more than £100 million.

By now Maurizio was separated from Patrizia and busy spending his fortune, a lot of which was lavished on Creole . The designer Toto Russo helped re-work the yacht’s interior, with the deckhouse decorated in sumptuous style, featuring artworks and handmade pieces carved from solid ebony and marble. There were just four guest cabins, for two people each, with their own bathroom. Her usual crew numbered 16. Guests were handed a white sweatshirt and slacks to wear on board. The top featured Creole ’s emblem, a pair of intertwined seahorses.

As Maurizio enjoyed his yacht, Patrizia looked on, becoming increasingly jealous. She raged over the money it was costing – at one point it emerged he had spent €800,000 on just one area of the accommodation. It was not known whether this included the cost of buying the stingray skins that lined the bulkheads.

Patrizia was living in an apartment with her daughters, growing more and more resentful by the day, especially when she learnt that Maurizio was thinking of marrying his young girlfriend, Paola Franchi.

Then, on 27 March 1995, as Maurizio arrived at his office in Milan’s Via Palestro, a man stepped into the lobby of the building and fired three shots. Wounded, but probably not fatally, Maurizio slumped to the floor. The gunman fired a fourth bullet into his temple at close range, killing him instantly. Maurizio was 46.

Almost two years later, in January 1997, police arrested Patrizia. It emerged later that she had hired a killer, through a friend with underworld contacts, to murder her husband. She was convicted and served 16 years in jail.

Maurizio’s daughters Allegra and Alessandra inherited Creole and keep her in the style to which she has become accustomed. She is occasionally seen at classic events in the Mediterranean, although in recent years her role has been as mothership to the other, smaller Gucci classic, Avel . The Gucci sisters say Creole keeps their father’s memory alive, and certainly the yacht is associated with some of the happiest times in Maurizio’s short life.

Rationally, of course, one cannot attribute horror and tragedy to a jinx said to cling to a sailing yacht. Yet, there may always be some who will look at Creole ’s dark story and experience a shiver down the spine.

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Gucci’s Creole – A Peek at the Largest Wood Sailing Ship in the World

What do you know about “the Creole?” It is the largest wooden sailing ship in the world, and one of the most famous. Owned by the family of Maurizio Gucci, it has both a brilliant and cursed past.

The world is full of fateful tales of sailing ships, large and small, private and military. One of the most famous wooden sailing ships of all time is the Creole. Now in the hands of the Gucci family, yes the couturier Maurizio Gucci’s family, the Creole is beautifully restored to the vision of the original designers. For all of its longevity, the Creole has earned a reputation built more on fear among some sailors than on respect.

Original Design and Build

When American Alexander Smith Cochran inherited a fortune of roughly $40 million in the early 1900s, he set about obtaining a fleet of wooden sailing ships to satisfy his passion for regattas and yachting. Cochran was known at the time as the “Richest Bachelor in New York,” and bought a number of yachts to compete in regattas in both New York and Europe.

With a vast fortune in his pocket, Cochran had well-known yacht designer Charles E. Nicholson build him a personal yacht for sailing. The ship was originally known as Vira, and quickly became Cochran’s pride and joy. However, it took several years to complete the beautiful wooden ship. When it was finished in 1927, he was too ill with tuberculosis to even navigate the deck of his own ship. At the ship’s christening, a friend of Cochran’s had to crack the champagne bottle on the ship’s keel because he was too weak to do so. His friend, Fred Hugues, required three swings to break the bottle.

Even though Cochran’s ship was the largest yacht ever built by the Camper & Nicholson shipyard, he wanted numerous changes made. First and foremost, he had the three tall masts shortened. Then he had ballast added to the bow. His changes made the ship labor in the water, and Cochran used it little before dying in 1929.

Numerous Ownership Changes

Between Cochran’s death and World War II, the Vira was purchased first by Maurice Pope, who renamed the ship Creole. Pope was a yachting enthusiast who had all of Cochran’s physical changes to the ship reversed. Pope frequently used the vessel to sail between The Solent and the Isle of Wight, UK. In 1937, Pope sold the ship to Sir Connor Guthrie. He had the vessels masts lengthened again and restored its original keel, and was rewarded for his investments as he won numerous regattas in the British Isles while racing the Creole.

Wartime Service

When World War II erupted in Europe in 1939, the Creole became an unlikely servant for the British Empire. The ship was renamed Magic Circle and given the mundane task of patrolling the waters of the coast of Scotland as a mine hunter. The ship had been refitted and repainted to serve in war, but upon the conclusion of World War II, it was returned to Guthrie’s family.

Post World War II

After the war the ship sat idle while in control of the family. It wasn’t until 1948 that it earned some tender love and care. Stavor Niarchos purchased the vessel at this time, spending into the hundreds of thousands (USD) to repair, refurbish, and breathe new life into the ship. The Greek yachtsman was in love with the Creole, going over every detail of the ship’s original design and finish to ensure it was properly refitted.

In the end, the vessel once again showed why some call it the “Cursed Creole.” Niarchos’ first wife was found dead onboard the ship from a suspected overdose of barbiturates, as was his second wife. At this point in time, Niarchos refused to sail on the ship ever again. By 1977 he had given up and sold it to the Danish government. Pressed into military service again, the Danes used it as a training ship until they could no longer afford to maintain and support the ship’s use.

Rescued Once Again

After years of neglect, the Creole was purchased by a man whose fashion sense had earned him millions, millions which he would need to save the ship. In 1983, Maurizio Gucci purchased the ship and vowed that he would return the luxury yacht to its original glory. Over the course of six years he spent millions of dollars restoring the sailing vessel and mega-wooden yacht to its true beauty.

Gucci gave the yacht an appearance that was befitting of the fashion magnate’s own name. The Creole sailed with him to ports throughout Europe, earning respect and admiration from sailing fans across the continent. It appeared that the Creole Curse had one more victim to claim though. In 1995, Gucci was murdered in a brutal attack that was ordered, allegedly, by his own wife.

Modern Creole

Currently, the Creole belongs to the children of Gucci. His daughters Allegra and Alessandra own the yacht. Although neither daughter has been spotted sailing the Creole with regularity, they are said to properly care for the boat in their father’s memory.

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Where are Gucci’s daughters now: They are married and don’t talk to their mother

• by Kate Marin
•  – on Dec 06, 2021
•  in Extra

Patrizia Reggiani claimed that she arranged the murder of her ex-husband Maurizio Gucci because she didn’t want their daughters, Alessandra and Allegra, disinherited by potential children of Maurizio and his partner, Paola Franchi. Love for her daughters drove her to murder, she claims. However, it’s hard not to rule out personal reasons for the murder: Paola and Maurizio’s marriage would have cut Patrizia’s alimony in half. 

Alessandra and Allegra believed Patrizia to be innocent, claiming that a brain tumor caused her to arrange Maurizio’s murder. 

The sisters’ lives have come under the spotlight following the release of  House of Gucci . Let’s find out how Gucci’s daughters are doing now. 

Gucci’s daughters are married and have ended communication with their mother

Patrizia Reggiani ensured that Alessandra and Allegra inherited Maurizio’s $400 million estate. 

Unlike their mother, Alessandra and Allegra stay miles away from the limelight. The sisters enjoy private family lives in Switzerland. They are both married and have sons. 

Allegra told  Boat International  that her husband is a car enthusiast: “When I met my husband 12 years ago, he introduced me to the world of motorcycles and fast cars. We share our passions and I really enjoy driving supercars on circuits. At the same time, he loves sailing, regattas, and classic yachts.”

Alessandra and Allegra were vocal defenders of Patrizia during her trial. Allegra even enrolled in law school to provide better legal help for her mom. 

However, Patrizia and her daughters fell out after her incarceration. The former Mrs. Maurizio Gucci told  The Guardian  that she no longer speaks to Gucci’s daughters. She told the publication:

“We are going through a bad time now. They don’t understand me and have cut off my financial support. I have nothing, and I haven’t met my two grandsons.”

Alessandra was a fashion designer and has since adopted a quiet life

Alessandra Gucci dabbled in the world of fashion but never associated with the Gucci brand. Instead, she designed handbags for the luxury label AG. 

Her limited edition handbags titled The First launched in 2008. Alessandra honored her fashion-loving family by naming the designs after her grandfather, Rodolfo, and father, Maurizio. 

Alessandra ended her brief stint in the fashion world after the bags sold. She adopted a quiet family life in Switzerland with her son and husband. 

Allegra inherited her father’s love for boats and is an avid sailor

Maurizio Gucci bought the Creole – the largest wooden sailing yacht in the world – to celebrate Allegra’s birth. Gucci spent a lot to restore the classic yacht to its original glory. “The goal of my father was to give the Creole a second life, to keep the boat as original as possible,” Allegra said. 

Allegra and Alessandra spent holidays on the boat. The younger Gucci daughter told  Boat International  that the Creole holds fond childhood memories. She said:

“Some of the best memories I have on Creole are the water fights that would suddenly break out on board. They would start as just a splash between me and my sister and by the end of it everyone would be soaking wet – owners, crew and officers. Quite often somebody ended up in the sea. It was great fun!”

Allegra took to sailing more than her sister. The Creole was too big a vessel to train with, so Allegra started sailing dinghies at the age of 10. “I always loved the sea – it is something like my ecosystem: the water, the sun, the wind,” she added. 

Gucci got better at sailing after Maurizio bought a smaller classic boat named Avel. The Creole and Avel have won several classic yacht sailing titles in the hands of Allegra and her crew. She retired briefly from sailing when she was pregnant, but she couldn’t resist the allure of the sea for too long. 

Allegra talked to  Boat International  about the allure of classic boat sailing: “I just fell in love with this world. When you go sailing on a classic boat it is magic. The feeling, the sound of the boat on the water is something you cannot describe. With a classic – it’s pure, it’s like poetry.”

Family has taken priority over classic yacht racing, but Allegra still enjoys a slow cruise along the Mediterranean. She concluded: 

“Creole is a big boat, so having a child running up and down becomes a bit difficult. We go sailing – but maybe not with 28 knots of wind. It’s [the Mediterranean] the perfect place for classic yachts. You have nice wind and in some places you don’t have too much swell that gives shocks to the boat.”

The sisters have criticized their portrayal in  House of Gucci

Gucci’s daughters aren’t fans of  House of Gucci . They expressed their disgust via a sharp-worded statement, criticizing the producers for inaccuracies in the film. 

“Mauricio Gucci’s heirs have never granted any authorization, which was never requested, for the making of the film, from which they firmly dissociate themselves,” the sisters’ statement reads. Alessandra and Allegra described the film as an ‘unfaithful reconstruction of strictly private family events.’

The statement, which the sisters sent to  The Times , insists that the film constitutes a breach of privacy. “It seems as if everything has been planned and edited to create a profit out of a tragedy without any respect for the privacy and pain of the heirs and their families,” it adds. 

Alessandra and Allegra’s statement came days after other relatives of the Gucci family criticized the film. The statement described the film as inaccurate, alleging that  House of Gucci  incorrectly portrays the Gucci family as ‘thugs, ignorant and insensitive to the world around them.’

The relatives also contested Patrizia’s portrayal in the flick : “[The film] gets to the point of suggesting an indulgent tone towards a woman who, definitively convicted of having been the instigator of the murder of Maurizio Gucci, is painted not only in the film, as a victim who was trying to survive in a masculine and macho corporate culture. This couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Patrizia Gucci also expressed her displeasure with the film and Lady Gaga’s refusal to meet with her. Lady Gaga plays Patrizia in House of Gucci. “I’m rather annoyed at the fact that Lady Gaga is playing me in the new Ridley Scott film without having the consideration and sensibility to come and meet me,” Patrizia told  Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata . 

The sisters were charged and acquitted of tax evasion

In October 2014, Alessandra and Alegra were indicted on tax evasion charges. Prosecutors alleged that the sisters owed around $5.7 million in taxes accumulated from 2004 to 2010. 

Prosecutors acquitted the sisters in September 2015. Per  WWD , the lead prosecutor claimed that the sisters evaded taxes, but he couldn’t find proof to back up his assertions. 

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CREOLE Yacht – Epic $20 Million Superyacht

The CREOLE yacht was built and delivered by Camper & Nicholsons in 1927 at their shipyard in the United Kingdom. 

“Oldie but Goldie”, is how you may describe the ninety-five-year-old vessel owned by the Gucci family. 

Launched as Vira, she was built for American carpet manufacturer Alexander Smith Cochran. 

CREOLE is currently the largest wooden sailing yacht in the world and she was named after a dessert invented by Maurice Pope’s chef, her second owner. 

CREOLE Yacht Interior

The CREOLE yacht interior was penned by Toto Russo from Ing. Russo Yachts, who tried to style her in the 1920s.

When the Guccis took possession of the vessel, they wanted to keep the original design. The yacht had no interiors, so they had to design a whole new one.

She underwent a remodeling process, adapting her classic interior into a 21st Century modern style. 

Her furnishings were selected in muted and sober tones to match the coziness of the wooden paneling. 

She can accommodate up to 10 guests in six charming cabins and hosts 15 crew members in four separate cabins. 

The staterooms can be found on the lower deck, including one master suite, two double cabins, two twin cabins, and one single cabin. 

All of her cabins have private bathrooms, shower facilities, and a lavatory. 

The main deck has a living room, the main dining room, and an extensive roof to enjoy the open air. 

This unique yacht has three impressive masts that need an hour and a half to deploy. 

Her toys include a canoe, paddle boards, inflatable water toys, snorkeling equipment, and scuba diving equipment. 

CREOLE Yacht Exterior

The CREOLE yacht features exterior design by Charles E. Nicholson and naval architecture by Charles E. Nicholson and Giorgetti and Magrini.

Both her hull and superstructure are made out of wood and GRP. She has a hull NB of 346. 

After all these years and previous modifications, she still maintains her original 1920s design.

Originally, her first owner asked to cut the masts because he thought they were too tall. The result? Poor performance. 

CREOLE Yacht Specifications

The CREOLE yacht has a length of 65.3m, a beam of 9.44m, a draft of 5.4m, and a volume of 680 GT. 

Powered by twin MTU engines, she has a cruising speed of 10.0 knots and a maximum speed of 14.5 knots. She carries 25,800 liters of fuel and 9,400 liters of water. 

She currently sails under the Malta flag and is the second largest yacht built by C&N. 

Her weekly rate goes from 224,000 to 266,000 EUR plus expenses and her cruising locations depend on the season. 

CREOLE Yacht History

Launched in 1926 and delivered one year later for Alexander Smith Cochran, he asked to reduce the height and span of the vessel. 

She was renamed after her second owner, Major Maurice Pope, purchased her. 

Ten years after she was delivered, she was fully restored according to her original design. During this time, CREOLE participated in several regattas. 

However, with the strike of the Second World War in 1939, she was used as a mine hunter for the soldiers and later abandoned. 

Luckily, she was rescued by Stavros Niarchos, who took her to Germany to give her a second life. 

With a new life, came new changes. Her living room was enlarged featuring artwork by Dalí, Renoir, Degas, and Van Gogh. 

Niarchos gave the superyacht an amazing sailing record, but after his wife’s death, he forgot about Creole.  

When she was barely forty years old, she was acquired by the Danish government for their sailing school, but they only ruined the ship.

Five years later, Maurizio Gucci purchased the CREOLE back and restored the classic yacht without really knowing much about it.

At some point, she went back to participate in. Few regattas, winning the Monaco Classic Week in 2013. 

She remains part of the Gucci family and she’s living a happy life. 

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Allegra Gucci Interview

Sailing the schooner Creole and the racing cutter Avel is a way of keeping her father’s memory alive, as Classic Boat ‘s Dan Houston found when he met Allegra Gucci at Monaco Classic Week.

Meeting Allegra Gucci: There’s a moment as I step from the gangplank on to the quarterdeck of the magnificent 214ft (65.2m) schooner Creole and I think to myself: “Wow, I’m about to meet a Gucci girl, I wonder how she’ll be?”

The rain has arrived in force at Monaco Classic Week and I duck under the awning of this historic vessel with a few moments to admire her varnish and brass fittings, while a crewman goes for’ard to look for Captain Chris Austin.

Like many in the classic sailing set I’ve watched Creole following the 1896, 59ft 9in (18.3m) Avel from event to event knowing these beautifully kept, professionally crewed Camper & Nicholsons yachts were being sailed by Alessandra and Allegra, daughters of Maurizio Gucci, the head of the famous Italian fashion house, shot dead outside his office in Milan in 1995.

But there’s always been a kind of hush around the subject, and Creole is often anchored off at events like these, shut away with blinds drawn over her deck saloons. It has been Avel , with her crew in their jaunty, ochre-coloured neck scarves, which has raced, often successfully, on the Mediterranean circuit, and one could often pick out Allegra working on the foredeck. But Avel was missing from the regattas this year and it was the mighty Creole with her 17,000sqft (1,579m2) of sail that was out racing.

So when Chris meets me and takes me to meet Allegra Gucci in the forward deckhouse – a navigating area with a table and leather seating around it – one of the first questions I ask is where was Avel ? It should, perhaps, have been elementary, since Allegra is showing an obvious “bump” but us men don’t always put two and two together on such matters. “I am five months pregnant,” she replies, “and I was advised not to do any heavy work on the foredeck of Avel , so we retired her just for this season.”

It turns out it was the first time Creole had raced at a regatta for 20 years. “Dad got Creole in 1982 when I was still a baby,” Allegra says. “To race her, a lot of work was done by Lürssen Yachts in Germany, Beconcini in La Spezia and Astilleros de Mallorca. But he found she was just too big to race and have fun. So he decided to buy and restore Avel , also a Camper & Nicholsons yacht, which was restored at Harry Spencer’s yard in Cowes.”

Maurizio had found Avel , then a houseboat in the mud at Mersea, Essex (CB80), and bought her for £15,000. Avel was back sailing on the then early classic regatta circuit in 1994. Some readers will remember CB’s report of being aboard, with John Bardon as skipper, and yes, the crew in their ochre neck ties being mentioned as well (CB79). Maurizio Gucci was one of the first yachtsmen to restore classic yachts faithfully – at the same time Harry Spencer was working on Avel , the Fife 15-M Tuiga was being restored over the water at the newly founded Fairlie Restorations on the Hamble.

By then Gucci was separated from Allegra’s mother Patrizia but the young Allegra had already inherited her father’s passion for the sea and sailing. She began sailing when she was small, though not on Creole or Avel . “I would go on summer camp with friends in France, sailing wooden dinghies. I wanted a dinghy of my own and when I was nine I had a Laser, which I sailed on the lake at St Moritz [Switzerland].

“Dad’s spirit of sailing came down to us…”

“…he even saw the business potential in it, sponsoring the Italian America’s Cup challenge 12-M Italia for the 1987 Cup in Fremantle.” (Gucci backed the Consorzio Italia syndicate for the Yacht Club Italiano bid.) With his new interest in classic sailing realised when he restored Avel , it was a tragedy when Maurizio was murdered as he arrived at his office in Milan in March 1995. In 1998 Patrizia was jailed for life for her part in hiring a hitman; she was freed from jail on parole two days after this interview, in September 2013.

For Allegra and Alessandra the best way to honour their father’s  memory was to continue to campaign his yachts and the spirit of authenticity he had fostered with the family’s two C&N restorations. “I first raced Avel in 1996, at the Conde de Barcelona [Palma, Mallorca],” explains Allegra, “I was 15 and I remember that the other yachts were able to point higher than us and the skipper John Bardon saying we needed to alter the rig.”

At this point Captain Chris Austin, who joined the crew of Creole in 1989, added: “When she was restored in 1994 she had a massive rig, and it was too big for the boat. William Collier found some original plans of the first rig in a French yachting magazine [many of C&N’s early plans and records were destroyed in a fire in 1941] and a new rig was put in her in 2000.”

“Our spirit is to keep the boats in as original condition as possible,” Allegra Gucci confirms.

“So, for instance, we only have a balloon jib on Avel – we would never have an asymmetric spinnaker.” Despite the tragic family events, Allegra still remembers her early sailing days on Avel fondly: “It was great in 1996; I wanted to be in the action up on the foredeck with all the guys, but people were worried about me and my safety. I was small then and elastic and it was quite fun, so I spent the first years learning – maybe trimming on the staysail.

And I always wanted to race as part of the crew, so I worked for it and finally, after many years, I’m there! There is a lot to learn, and every year I learn more. In fact, every race you learn something new.

“ Avel had only raced once in her early years – she was laid up in the mud in 1927…” Allegra continues. “The race had been a coastal race of five yachts and Avel , designed as a cruising yacht, had come fifth so she was never raced again – until the Gucci family took her over.” Creole and Avel share 18 crew. In keeping with the spirit of authenticity Avel still has no engine, and it is quite a sight to see her being towed along behind Creole : “We can tow at nine knots, it works fine,” says Allegra. “We used to cruise Avel but without an engine it’s quite difficult to manoeuvre her – she’s a big boat to be without power. There was a time at the regatta in Porto Cervo when we were accused of having our engine on and we could reply: ‘We don’t have one!’ But it also makes us cautious; if it gets too windy during a race we would retire, because we don’t have an engine and the boat is less safe if we are racing with others like that.”

From that safety point of view, it might make sense to put an engine in the boat. “I would not consider putting an engine in because she is as original as possible,” Allegra avows. “But we have had a few close calls… We were headed straight for the dock once and the photographer Carlo Borlenghi came to our aid in Tuiga ’s tender to push us off. And we came alongside Creole too fast once and snapped one of her spreaders; it’s a big learning curve! But it can also be useful because if we are coming into a harbour like Saint- Tropez, I can just shout out that we have no engine and they let us right through!”

What’s Allegra’s favourite regatta?

“That’s difficult. Maybe Mahon; the atmosphere is great and it’s beautiful, but it’s been great to sail here at Monaco because many people don’t think Creole even has sails! I think the most important aspect of classic regattas is the spirit of the event. And old boats should be kept as original as possible, changing maybe a plank at a time. When I started there were not many boats but there was a show element: the old boats of the sea. You wouldn’t race aggressively or cause a collision, but since 2000 there has been an increase in the number of boats and so there is less space, but people push to win, which can cause accidents and it’s dangerous. If everyone sails well and knows the rules it’s OK, but we have seen people who take risks and that is crazy. What is the price of winning? You should be doing this for fun!

“My father would be so happy to see the boats now and how his philosophy of them is continuing,” Allegra surmises wistfully. “And next year we will sail Avel again. I am due to have a boy so he will have a little uniform and he’ll be able to see us from the deck.”

This article first appeared in the   January 2013 issue of Classic Boat (CB307). Try a single issue of the magazine on our online store here . 

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Gucci’s Creole

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Creole, the largest wooden sailing yacht in the world, currently owned by the Gucci family, has a long and interesting history full of racing, luxury, public service, and intrigue.

As many of our readers will know, she lives most of her life these days in Astilleros de Mallorca, where she is lovingly maintained throughout the year.  However, this beautiful wooden  mega yacht  is not without her dark side.  In fact, some say this gorgeous sailboat is cursed.

 The story of the yacht Creole begins with a man by the name of Alexander Smith Cochran, who inherited an estimated $40 million from earnings of the Alexander Smith Carpet Company, the largest carpet manufacturer in the world in the early 1900s.  After graduating from Yale, the young American took up yachting as a way to pass his many leisure hours in between charity events.  The man known as the “Richest Bachelor in New York” bought a yacht, began competing at regattas, and became well known around the New York Yacht Club (and later in Europe) as an enthusiastic sailor.  His crews competed in and won many races on various sailboats, including his favourite, an  America’s Cup  yacht named Vanitie.  In his early 50s, Cochran set out to build the ultimate boat for himself, assigning the task to the well-known yacht designer Charles E. Nicholson.

 Built under the name Vira, the sailboat was to be Cochran’s pride and joy.  Unfortunately, by the time she was launched in 1927 her owner was suffering badly from tuberculosis, and he could hardly get himself from bow to stern without a coughing fit overtaking him.  None disputed the beauty of the sailing yacht as she was launched in Gosport, but many speculated on her future, as the events that transpired on the day of the yacht’s christening were seen as a foreshadowing of misfortunes to come.  Being too ill to break the champagne on the prow himself, Cochran enlisted his friend Fred Hugues to take the honours.  Unfortunately, Hugues had to try three times before he was finally able to break the bottle, and this was seen as a bad omen indeed among the yachtsmen in attendance.

Cochran was impressed by the Vira, which was the largest yacht ever built at the Camper & Nicholsons shipyard at the time.  He thought the three masts looked a bit too tall, however, and ordered them cut several times, until the schooner resembled more of a motor sailor than the grand sailing yacht Nicholson had designed to speed through the water with a minimum of crew.  Cochran also changed the keel on the yacht, and added more ballast inside, in an attempt to compensate for the shorter masts.  These poorly conceived adaptations caused the sailboat to roll uncomfortably at sea, and to perform poorly in general.  Because of this, the boat soon lost its appeal for Alexander Smith Cochran, whose health continued to deteriorate until his death in 1929.

 The Creole changed hands in 1937, when she caught the eye of Sir Connop Guthrie.  A more traditional sailor, Guthrie brought the Creole back to the Camper & Nicholsons yard, where they lengthened her masts, dumped the extra ballast, restored her original keel, and finally brought the boat back to the svelte form that her designer had originally intended.  Gutherie was thrilled with her sailing characteristics, winning many regattas around the British Isles.

 Unfortunately, just as the Creole was earning her crown as the queen of yachts, war struck, and in 1939 she was drafted into service as a lowly mine-hunter.  Renamed Magic Circle, the sailboat traded in her dress whites for coveralls, serving the Allies off Scotland throughout the Second World War.  When her tour of duty ended, she was returned to the Guthrie family, nearly unrecognizable

Once again named Creole, the yacht continued to deteriorate until Stavros Niarchos purchased her in 1948.  Seeing her in the rough, the Greek yachtsman was determined to restore the boat back to her former glory.  Hundreds of thousands of dollars were sunk into the yacht over many years, as each detail was gone over by ‘The Golden Greek,’ as the bitter rival of Aristotle Onassis was known.

Unfortunately, Niarchos’s wife was then found dead from an overdose of barbiturates, and the strange circumstances surrounding her demise put the tycoon very much in the public spotlight.  It’s said that he never sailed the Creole again after this.  Then, after his next wife (formerly the wife of his rival Onassis) also died of an overdose, the tycoon decided to part with the Creole once and for all, selling her to the Danish government in 1977, where she was used as a training ship until they could no longer afford the upkeep.

Then in 1983, the  yacht  caught the eye of a man of vision, couturier Maurizio Gucci. He pledged to return the Creole to the luxury for which she was designed.  Once again the boat was brought into the shipyard for a complete refit, as Gucci spent a vast fortune, and over six years, to see the beauty of this schooner restored inside and out.

Always admired and loved at ports and quays around Europe, this incredible and historic vessel once again spread her wings to become one of the most beautiful sailing yachts in the world – a yacht fitting the Gucci name.  She also stunned sailors at regattas, sailing like a thouroughbred, and proving herself to be much more than a pretty face.

But the Creole’s curse reared its head once more.  In 1995, Maurizio Gucci was brutally murdered, and his own wife found guilty for arranging the killing. 

Ownership of the Creole passed to Gucci’s daughters, Allegra and Alessandra Gucci, after Maurizio’s death.  Although they still own the yacht she has not been regularly sailed in recent year’s other than last year, when she competed at the Monaco Classic regatta, due to Allegra being five months pregnant and being told that she could not do any heavy work ! The sisters have normally chosen to sail the much smaller of Gucci’s yachts, the 59’ 9” feet Camper & Nicholson  Avel, which is a frequent competitor in classic regattas around the Med. Allegra and Alessandra are determined to keep their father’s spirit alive by keeping and sailing their two beautiful yachts, and competing in the series of classic regattas.

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VANITY FAIR: THE WORLD'S LARGEST WOODEN SAILING YACHT, CREOLE

Tuesday, 13th february 2018.

The world’s largest wooden sailing yacht, Creole, owned by the Gucci family, is being offered for charter for the first time. Built in 1927, she’s a whopper at 65.3 metres. And she has a chequered history: requisitioned as a mine hunter in the Second World War; refurbished by shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos, whose wife myseteriously died on board; sold to the Danish government to train naval recruits; and since restored by Maurizio Gucci, the last of the dynasty to run the brand, who was gunned down by a hitman hired by his ex-wife. No matter her past; under full sail, off the coast of Monaco, there is no finer way to move around the Mediterranean.

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Friday, 18th may 2018, cecil wright & partners appointed central agent for the charter of m/y cocoa bean, friday, 29th september 2017, american yacht buyers underpin strengthening order books, friday, 28th july 2017, what you need in the world of yachting, tuesday, 2nd may 2017, sail away this summer, thursday, 10th may 2018, feadship project 815 launched and named sherpa, wednesday, 19th july 2017, the brief sheet, contact the team.

Was Maurizio Gucci’s Creole cursed? Multiple owners of classic 63m wooden sailing yacht have met untimely deaths

Launched over 90 years ago, Creole -- the classic 63.03 meters schooner -- was bought by Maurizio Gucci, the last member of the family dynasty to run the fashion empire, in 1983. He bought it two years after his second daughter, Allegra Gucci, with Patrizia Reggiani was born.

In the upcoming documentary ‘Lady Gucci: The Story Of Patrizia Reggiani’, a criminologist, Cristina Brondoni, speaks about it as she said, “The Creole is a 65-meter wooden sailing yacht infamous for bringing the owners bad luck. Scene of mysterious deaths and suicides. Niarchos’ wife died aboard the yacht.” Even though Patrizia was happy about the purchase, she also said in the documentary, “The boat was cursed by Niarchos’ wife.”

‘Lady Gucci: The Story Of Patrizia Reggiani’: Live stream, release date, plot and all you need to know about Discovery+ show

New TV series investigates the sensational murders of fashion icons Gucci and Versace

What was Creole’s curse?

Creole was not always Creole since its birth. It was made by British architect Charles Ernest Nicholson and in 1927, it was given the name Vira at Camper & Nicholsons’ yard in Gosport, Hampshire. The beauty, labeled the world’s largest wooden sailing yacht with two generators, electric refrigeration, and central heating throughout her apartment-sized suites, began to show bad omens from its own naming ceremony as it took three attempts to break the magnum of Champagne on its bow. But real problems started when its first owner, US carpet manufacturer Alexander Smith Cochran, found its spars too long and ordered it to be cut down by a few meters. The change made its look not so fascinating and Cochran tried several methods to make it look like it did earlier, but the workers overdid it and the ship became hopelessly tender, which left the immensely wealthy businessman frustrated and unhappy. He was eventually diagnosed with tuberculosis and at the age of 55, he died.

South Coast yachtsman Maurice Pope became the second owner of Vira, who renamed it Creole. The new name was after a delicious dessert Pope’s chef made. In 1937, financier Sir Connop Guthrie, who had just been made a baronet, bought it from Pope. However, after the outbreak of WWII in 1939, Creole was temporarily given to the Admiralty by its owner, and its name was changed to Magic Circle. When in 1945, the time came to return to its owner, Guthrie was not there to receive it because he was dead. The ship’s condition worsened but Stavros Niarchos, a Greek shipping tycoon, spotted it in 1947 before it completely died. He returned the yacht to its original look and made it his floating home for long periods until a tragedy struck. Niarchos was married to Eugenia Livanos for years with four kids. In 1970, the pair went on a holiday along with Livanos’ sister, Athina 'Tina' Onassis, to Spetsopoula, in the Aegean. On May 3, 1970, Livanos died due to an overdose of barbiturates. At the time, it was said she killed herself onboard Creole. A post mortem report then claimed that the woman had severe bruising on her body, which made Niarchos the prime suspect. However, later he was acquitted. Livanos' body was back from the mainland to Spetsopoula using Creole.

Following the tragedy, Niarchos discarded the ship and sold it to the Danish government for use as a sail training vessel for youngsters. But the maintenance cost was too much for the government and they sold it to Maurizio Gucci.

Maurizio was 35 when he owned it. At the time, he was on his way to lead the world-famous Gucci family fashion house. He was also happily married to the daughter of a Milan businessman, Patrizia, who was also mother to his daughters -- Alessandra and Allegra. Everything seemed happy and fine until it was alleged Maurizio purchased Creole by illegally diverting funds through a Panama-based company. A probe was launched. He became the headline of all Italian newspapers, though for a wrong reason. Corriere della Sera wrote “The Creole betrayed Maurizio Gucci” at the time and La Repubblica said, “Gucci in a storm over a dream yacht; arrest warrants issued”.

After several ups and downs, Maurizio, though, escaped jail, but his personal life became a mess. He was separated from his wife and lavishly spent money on Creole. But he did not enjoy the yacht for a long time since on March 27, 1995, he was shot dead. He was just 46 at the time. Things changed for the worse for the Gucci family as two years later, Patrizia was shockingly arrested for the killing of her husband. She was convicted and sentenced to more than two decades, but she served only 16 years behind bars.

Who owns Creole now?

After Maurizio’s murder, his daughters -- Alessandra and Allegra -- became the owners of Creole. As per reports, in recent years, the yacht’s role has changed and it's been used as a mothership to the other Gucci family’s classic, Avel, which is 18.3 meters long. Since Allegra is a serious sailor, she is mostly seen with her father’s memory onboard. “It’s like a small industry. A boat like Creole, in composite with double teak, needs maintenance — every year we take her out of the water for it. Black paint is not the best paint for a wooden boat, but Creole was born like this and we like to keep her that way,” the scion of the fashion dynasty with a degree in law, whose “first passion” has always been sailing on Creole, said. Talking about the time when her father Maurizio bought the ship, Allegra said, “I think at the time it was a little bit crazy. We’re talking about the beginning of the 1980s, when there was not the knowledge we have now about restoring classic boats. And obviously Creole is not a normal classic yacht, she is an enormous classic yacht.” Creole is with Allegra almost throughout her life and luckily, she has faced no hardship while being its owner. “Some of the best memories I have on Creole are the water fights that would suddenly break out on board. They would start as just a splash between me and my sister and by the end of it everyone would be soaking wet — owners, crew and officers. Quite often somebody ended up in the sea. It was great fun!” she said before adding, “Another great memory is crossing the Med, from Spain to France or to Greece. I remember the beauty of the dark sky, the silence of being in the middle of the sea in perfect conditions and enjoying the quiet and the magic of the night. I remember lying in the cockpit covered by towels to protect me from the humidity.” ‘Lady Gucci: The Story Of Patrizia Reggiani’ will premiere Saturday, March 20, on Discovery+.

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The Cursed Creole Gucci Yacht

A haunted  yacht  sinks the Gucci dynasty.

If you’ve read the incredible book “The House of Gucci,” by  Sarah Gay Forden (yes, it’s the one that the 2021 movie starring Lady Gaga and Adam Driver was based on), you might recall the stunning, 200 foot wooden yacht that Mauritzio Gucci bought and remodeled at the height of his control over the Gucci Brand…this boat, called the creole, was notoriously cursed and with it, brought about death, destruction, and ghosts? Today, we’re talking about the creole, and it’s  curse  that spanned millionaires and generations. 

Built in 1927, its first owner was all american millionaire, yale alum, and industrialist Alexander Cochran. Christened the  Vira , it was the largest wooden sailing yacht ever constructed. In the words of veteran photographer Gilles Martin-Raget, the boat was “outside all the norms of size, aesthetics and history”. And it would continue to be, without its maker at the hem. Why? Because with all its grandeur and glamour, Cochran  didn’t have time to enjoy the yacht- he died suddenly of cancer in 1929. 

His heirs sold the boat to a man named Maurice Pope, a British yachtsman who renamed his new purchase the  Creole  after a particularly delicious dessert invented by his personal chef. The ship’s name change was not a good move- if you’re familiar with ships or sailing culture (I’m not, and even I knew this was probably not kosher) sailors think that renaming ships is very very bad luck. The origins of this go back to Greek and Italian folklore, saying that When a boat is christened its name goes into the  Ledger of the Deep , an old book of ships owned by Poseidon himself.  When a boat is renamed, Poseidon is insulted and yes, the ship’s owners pay dearly for their name swapping hubris. BUt nothing happens like that to the creole, the rest of the owners live peaceful and uneventful lives. JUST KIDDING, of course they don’t. 

In 1937 the creole was bought by financier Sir Connop Guthrie, who had just been made a baronet. Guthrie was a dedicated sailor who restored  Creole ’s rig and keel and raced her successfully until the Second World War, the British government requisitioned the Creole as a mine-hunting ship they named  the Magic Circle (yes, another name change. Yikes). In 1953, The boat was purchased by Greek billionaire and playboy Stavros Knee-arch-os. Restoring the war-torn Creole to its  pristine condition, Knee-arch-os made an addition- an upper deck cabin, as he refused to sleep below deck for fear of drowning.  

Knee-archos loved the creole, until two tragedies struck.In May 1970, the creole was docked on Knee-archo’s private island, Spetsopoula, in the Aegean. With Knee arch os was his wife, Eugenia Livanos and her sister, Christina.  What happened that night was disputed, but the official version is that Eugenia killed herself with an overdose of barbiturates. At a post mortem on the mainland, the pathologist reported severe bruising on Eugenia’s body and the  investigation began. Knee-arch-os was cleared but a witness says Eugenia had caught Knee-arch-os trying to force himself upon her sister, and a violent fight broke out.

Soon after, Knee Archos went on to marry Eugenia’s  sister (yes the one who was there)  Christina Livanos. In 1974, she ALSO overdosed and died. 

Heartbroken, Niarchos swore to never set foot on the  Creole  again, selling his once pride and joy to the  Danish navy in 1977. The Danes put the ship to use…it was repurposed in the late 70s as a floating rehab clinic. Not joking. 

Enter Maurizio Gucci who In 1982, buys the creole on a massive spending spree. His then wife, Patrizia Gucci used psychics and healers near constantly, and was immediately suspicious of the boat. She told her husband that there was a negative aura lingering around it,, which was not great news for Maurizio who set in motion a multi-million dollar restoration on the boat.

Not to stop the spending train, Mauritzio docked the  Creole  at Italy’s La Spezia shipyard, and had a psychic come exorcise any spiritual riffraff. Accompanied by Maurizio, Patritzia, and two crewmen, the psychic-named Frida- boarded the ship.

Sarah Gay Forden, sets the scene saying, At first, Frida walked about the ship in a trance. Finally, the five came to an open corridor. “ Open the door, open the door, ” she cried. As far as the ghost hunting party could see, there was no door, just a hallway. Then a dark look came across the face of one of the crewmen. Before Maurizio’s recent renovations, there HAD been a door right in that exact spot.

How did Frida know a door had been there? The psychic then strolled towards a nearby kitchen. She demanded to be left alone. This puzzled the group. Until one of the crewmen explained. This had been the kitchen where Eugenia’s body was found.

At this moment a gust of cold wind ran past them. Frida informed Maurizio, Patrizia and the crew the exorcism was complete. “ It’s all over ,” Frida said, “ There are no more evil spirits on the Creole .  Eugenia’s ghost promised me that from now on, she will protect the Creole and its crew .”

And then everything was fine. NO! Of course it wasnt! Maruzio Gucci was charged with tax fraud, money laundering and illegally acquired funds that were of course used to buy and refurbish the  Creole . Maurizio was later acquitted but in massive debt. In 1993, Maurizio sold his share in Gucci, the last family member of the company his grandfather started back in 1921.  The buy out was a not so modest 170 million dollars, so Gucci kept the  Creole  and a couple years later, Maritzio gucci was killed mafia style by his vengeful ex wife Patrizia. 

Maurizio’s daughters Allegra and Alessandra inherited the  Creole  and maintain her to this day. The Gucci sisters say the  Creole  keeps their father’s memory alive, but a curse? No comment on that. 

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Longtime collaborator Andrea Morante sheds some light on the events that preceded the murder of Maurizio Gucci and that also set the scene for the global development of the luxury goods industry.

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MILAN — “I want to give credit to Maurizio Gucci , he deserves it,” said Andrea Morante, chairman of independent asset management company QuattroR, which in 2019 took a majority stake in Trussardi .

From his vantage point, having worked closely with Gucci — and one of the few allowed to sail with the late executive on his Créole yacht — Morante still feels strongly about him. While executive director at Morgan Stanley, Morante was instrumental in introducing Gucci to Nemir Kirdar, who had founded investment banking and asset management company Investcorp in 1982. That meeting would help Gucci kick-start his dream of relaunching the family brand he had inherited from his father Rodolfo in 1983.

While much of the subsequent media attention obviously focused on Maurizio Gucci’s murder in 1995 — the anniversary of which is Saturday — his ex-wife Patrizia Reggiani’s jealousy and greed, and their strained relationship, Morante talked to WWD to shed some light on the events that preceded the tragedy and which also helped set the scene for the global development of the luxury goods industry — such as the arrival of private equity funds and international and diverse creative and management teams — as well as the challenges family businesses face.

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Morante believes Maurizio Gucci was the first to realize the potential of the Gucci brand at a moment when the luxury industry was nascent. In the late ‘80s, “Maurizio understood ahead of time that the luxury industry was about to embark on and experience a global renaissance. Not everybody was convinced at that stage.” It was a moment of “epochal changes,” Morante said, a time that would see the luxury goods sector make a quantitative leap.

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Maurizio Gucci was also quick to understand the role finance would play in the glittering world of luxury, Morante contended. The arrival of the Anglo-Arabian Investcorp signaled “one of the first and most interesting cases of private equity investments” aimed at helping him take the leadership of the Gucci Group.

Maurizio Gucci realized that his family “was too litigious and too unprepared to keep the brand alive.” For this reason, he turned to Morante and Morgan Stanley, to help him restructure the company’s shareholder base.

Kirdar “had the intuition of buying” Tiffany & Co. from Avon Products Inc. in 1984, which was “an incredible master stroke at the time. When I asked him if he would be interested in meeting Maurizio, I remember Nemir said he would do anything to become a Gucci partner and be part of the relaunch.”

On behalf of Investcorp, Morgan Stanley purchased 50 percent of Gucci’s shares from Maurizio Gucci’s uncle Aldo’s side of the family “in a dramatic and complex M&A series of transactions” that lasted more than a year. “The last one to give up his shares was Aldo Gucci, who felt that he was selling his soul and not his equity stake. He died soon thereafter,” said Morante, who, moving to Investcorp, became a Gucci executive board member and de facto chief operating officer.

Morante recalled days and nights of intense work, traveling around the world to relaunch the brand. “Maurizio and Investcorp were convinced Gucci had an incredible potential that had not been fully expressed. They felt there was going to be an enormous demand for the brand. Maurizio saw this with extreme clarity, more than any other person.”

The restructuring involved sacrificing a portion of the revenues that were channeled into the company from easy sales at duty-free shops around the world, for example, and this took about two years. Counterfeits and cheap quality products had to be removed to reposition the brand “where it belonged,” as true luxury, said Morante.

Investcorp realized this was key to success, while “many private equity funds don’t understand that it is important to take a step back to jump forward. It’s risky because you have to accept a sales cut, but it’s necessary for a real relaunch,” he contended.

At Gucci, this included a total management reshuffle; a clear and international new creative direction; a painful but necessary product repositioning; the purchase of the Gucci Japan license, which was absolutely strategic, and the total revision of the Gucci look, feeding upon its incredible heritage and archives, he explained.

Maurizio Gucci decided the company needed to buy back its business and distribution in Japan, which at the time was “unthinkable,” said Morante. “He understood Japan would be the most important market for luxury goods.”

Morante also credits Maurizio Gucci for his courage in shaping a new and innovative dream team, which included bringing an American woman and a Texas-born designer into a storied and very traditional Florence-based company.

In 1989, Maurizio Gucci succeeded in attracting Dawn Mello, who was then president of Bergdorf Goodman , because “she fell in love with the project he presented her and she left the U.S. and her home for this challenge,” and she in turn hand-picked Richard Lambertson, who was head of Bergdorf’s accessories department, to be design director, and Tom Ford , who was hired to oversee women’s ready-to-wear, seeing his potential — “a young incredible talent.” Ford flanked Lambertson until the latter returned to the U.S. Ford would be appointed creative director in 1994, building the company into a powerhouse brand and group and putting it on the map as a fashion trailblazer until he, in turn, exited in 2004.

“The appointment of Dawn Mello as creative director was an incredible coup. Maurizio charmed her and I convinced her to change her life and move to Florence and Milan,” said Morante. “People in Florence were shaking their heads, wondering what was happening, it was all almost blasphemous,” said Morante with a chuckle.

He also remembered Mello’s reaction when she first saw the Gucci moccasins, which at that time were available only in black or brown calf. “She said she wanted to see them in at least five or six colors and in two or three materials, and understood the potential of that shoe.”

Mello also kicked off an ad campaign that would inspire both Gucci and its competitors for years to come. “She was looking at the hands of the artisan that was making the moccasins, wrinkled after years of working the leather, and those hands fronted the new campaign. Maurizio made an exceptional choice in identifying Dawn Mello, who with Tom Ford , really turned the brand around.”

Morante admitted that “at one point, the wind died” — Gucci’s restructuring was hit by a difficult retail market in the early ‘90s while customers had to adjust to a new and more sophisticated product. “The numbers were not as expected and Investcorp started to worry. Maurizio could be seen as too easygoing and his management as chaotic. It was basically a one-year slowdown, something that today would be laughable but the relationship between Nadir and Maurizio was no longer idyllic,” said Morante. “Mistakes were made and the company needed an essential but limited capital increase to complete the business turnaround. This led to conflicts between Investcorp and Maurizio after having experienced a solid business relationship for a good three years. With the support of Domenico De Sole [then chief executive officer of Gucci Americas], Investcorp managed to acquire all of Maurizio’s shares at a difficult time for the company.” In 1993 Maurizio Gucci transferred his shares to Investcorp, ending the family’s involvement in the firm.

“Once Investcorp became 100 percent owner of Gucci, it decided to sell the company to “a luxury ‘guru’ with a clear vision and presence in the industry,” said Morante. The fund reached out to Morante, who at this time was working for Credit Suisse First Boston to “fire sell” 100 percent of Gucci. “The offers by Bernard Arnault, François Pinault and Johann Rupert [of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the-then PPR, later Kering, and Richemont, respectively] were too low, and Luciano Benetton waved it way, saying he believed Gucci ‘was dead,'” Morante recalled.

Investcorp did not sell its participation in the end and in 1995 decided to list part of Gucci on the public markets at a very handsome price, with a valuation of roughly $800 million. “Gucci was one of Investcorp’s best investments ever,” observed Morante.

“The tragedy is that while Maurizio was desperately trying to prove that Gucci could become a global player in the luxury industry, he ended up losing his company and, soon thereafter, his life,” concluded Morante. “Patrizia Reggiani played no part in all of the above developments but, once she found out that Maurizio had fallen in love with another woman, she decided that she was going to kill him, initially saying it as a joke and then she ended up actually doing it.”

How Gucci Thrived in the Aftermath of Maurizio’s Murder

Breaking Down Lady Gaga’s and Adam Driver’s Approaches to Style for ‘House of Gucci’

Marco Bizzarri on Japan, New Ginza Store and ‘House of Gucci’ Film

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House of gucci & patrizia reggiani true story: everything the movie leaves out.

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House Of Gucci’s Godfather 2 Reference Proves Its Campiness Works

House of gucci ending & real meaning explained, house of gucci's rotten tomatoes proves ridley scott had his best decade.

• Despite inaccuracies, the film accurately depicts the Gucci family's fashion legacy from 1978 to 1995.
• Ridley Scott defends his film against the Gucci family's criticisms and stands by the casting choices.
• The movie's release led to a surge in Gucci product searches and increased sales, known as the "House of Gucci effect."

2021's House of Gucci renewed interest in the titular Gucci family’s story of business, struggle, and betrayal. House of Gucci is helmed by a star-studded cast under the guidance of the Academy Award-nominated director Ridley Scott. The film tells the story of the Gucci fashion house, but centers specifically on the relationship between the late Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver) and his ex-wife Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga). House of Gucci 's all-star cast includes Academy Award winners Lady Gaga , Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons, and Al Pacino, as well as Oscar nominees Adam Driver and Salma Hayek.

However, no matter how talented the cast or how well they attempted to recreate the real Gucci family, the movie itself could only include so much of Gucci's real history. House of Gucci is Ridley Scott’s controversial crime drama based on the true story of Patrizia Reggiani and the events leading up to her conviction for murdering her ex-husband Maurizio Gucci. While the movie does a fair job of telling the dramatic story of the Gucci family and what used to be their fashion brand, the director received criticism from the real heirs of Aldo Gucci.

House of Gucci has been compared to The Godfather upon its release, but one particular reference proves it's a perfectly campy take on the latter.

The Boardroom Fight Of 1982

Aldo wanted to attack paolo due to a tape recorder in a board meeting.

A physical altercation took place in a Gucci boardroom meeting in 1982. Paolo brought a tape recorder into the meeting, inciting a violent confrontation between the real-life characters behind House of Gucci . While there are several accounts of what transpired, the overall consensus is that Maurizio had to try and hold Paolo back as Aldo attempted to take the tape recorder away.

Learn more about the boardroom altercation in Jenny Gucci's book, Gucci Wars .

According to Jenny Gucci in her book Gucci Wars , Paolo then called the police and had lacerations on his face which left him bloody and with a headache . Family lawyer Domenico De Sole disputed, this saying it was little more than a scratch.

Rodolfo’s Movie

Rodolfo gucci was an actor in real life.

In the House of Gucci true story, Rodolfo (Jeremy Irons) wasn’t simply part of the Gucci brand and Gucci household; Rodolfo was an actor who went by the stage name Maurizio D'Ancora. He appeared in more than 40 films from 1929 to 1946. Not only was Rodolfo an actor, but he also made a movie of his own , a feature-length film about his own family.

Titled Il cinema nella mia vita , Rodolfo’s movie was created partially for the benefit of his son Maurizio. Rodolfo wanted Maurizio to be able to see more images of his mother Sandra, as she passed away when he was still young.

How Patrizia Reggiani Was Caught (& Where She Is Now)

Patrizia served 18 years of her prison sentence.

House of Gucci does show how Patrizia Reggiani may have admitted to the murder of her husband Maurizio in her diary. In the film, she is shown writing “ paradeisos ,” which is the Greek word for paradise. In the true story of House of Gucci , Patrizia wasn’t the only suspect. Police were investigating multiple potential motives behind Maurizio’s assassination — including Maurizio’s business transactions, such as his investment in a Swiss casino, and any number of the Gucci family conflicts.

In 2000, her sentence was reduced to 26 years, but she ended up only serving 18

Lady Gaga proves herself in House of Gucci , but to this day, no one can prove who led the police to the real-life Patrizia. In 1997, Patrizia was sentenced to 29 years in prison. In 2000, her sentence was reduced to 26 years, but she ended up only serving 18 before being released for good behavior. Patrizia’s jail time could’ve been much shorter, but she refused to take part in a work-release program.

For viewers wondering where Patrizia Reggiani is now , in October 2011, she was offered parole if she would agree to get a job, but she scandalously said, “ I’ve never worked in my life, and I’m certainly not going to start now ” ( via The Telegraph ). She was released in 2016 and still receives $1.2 million from her deceased ex-husband’s estate every year.

House of Gucci is based on a true story, but Ridley Scott's fashion epic is more than just about murder. Here's what that ending means.

Aldo’s Time in Prison

There were two books wrote about his prison time & they contradict each other.

Aldo (Al Pacino) was in prison for tax evasion. In the Name of Gucci: A Memoir by Patricia Gucci details how traumatic Aldo’s one-year-and-a-day prison sentence was for the man. However, House of Gucci based its accounts of what happened during Aldo’s sentence not on Patricia’s memoir, but on Gay Forden’s book .

In Forden’s book The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed , Aldo is described as having used his phone privileges to call a woman he had a crush on. Like the mixed reviews for House of Gucci , the real accounts of Aldo’s prison sentence are also mixed. While Patricia described the experience as distressing, even going so far as to say it left her father as nothing but a “ ghost of his former self ,” in In the Name of Gucci , Aldo described his time in prison as restful in a letter he wrote.

What Happened To Their Daughter(s)

The movie combined two daughters into only one.

In House of Gucci , Maurizio and Patrizia Reggiani have one daughter whom they name Alessandra. An important detail in the film is that Patrizia tells her father-in-law, Rodolfo, that she was the one who had the idea to name their daughter after Maurizio’s mother. In reality, Maurizio's mother was named Sandra. However, in real life, the pair had two daughters. House of Gucci streamlined the story by removing Patrizia and Maurizio’s daughter Allegra from the picture.

In 2022, Allegra Gucci released her book Game Over about the aftermath of her father's murder and mother's conviction.

Both Alessandra and Allegra live in Switzerland with their families now. They initially had a good relationship with their mother and made efforts to free her from prison. Allegra even went to law school in an attempt to help her mother. The relationship between Patrizia Reggiani and her daughters has become strained over the years , however. Both daughters have now cut their mother off. Even without any ownership of the Gucci brand, both Allegra and Alessandra are still very wealthy, having inherited millions of dollars from Maurizio, all the Gucci residential properties, and a yacht.

Maurizio Forged The Signature

He had his secretary's assistant do the deed.

In House of Gucci , Maurizio attempts to obtain Rodolfo’s share certificates. He does this so that he won’t have to pay inheritance taxes. In the true story, Maurizio pawned the task off onto his secretary, Roberta Cassol . When she was unable to forge the signatures herself, her assistant Liliana Colombo was the one tasked with signing Rodolfo’s name. Colombo, under the direction of Maurizio and Cassol, forged Rodolfo’s signature on share certificates for Guccio Gucci S.p.A. and Gucci Parfums and provided multiple signatures on documents neither Cassol nor Colombo knew the names of.

In real life, Maurizio fled to Switzerland during the investigation into the forgeries. Maurizio was eventually found guilty of forging his father’s signature, but he was later acquitted. Even though Maurizio was found guilty of forging the signatures in real life, the film insinuates it is Lady Gaga’s Patrizia Reggiani who forges the signature.

The Murder Trial

The movie left out the trial's details.

House of Gucci doesn’t discuss the infamous trial for the murder that sparked the story. As part of Patrizia’s defense, her lawyers argued that she wasn’t actually threatening Maurizio. Her threats weren't made by someone with full mental faculties as she had just undergone brain surgery for a tumor. Patrizia Reggiani was still declared fit enough to stand trial.

Patrizia did take the stand during her own trial.

Once the trial started, her defense switched gears and began arguing that Pina (Salma Hayek) blackmailed Patrizia and that Patrizia hadn’t had any part in the murder plot until Pina’s blackmail. Unfortunately for her defense, Patrizia did take the stand during her own trial, and when Pina questioned her about this blackmail, she said she was forced to pay $365,000, but “ It was worth every penny ” (via The New York Times ). This poked a few holes in the theory that she paid purely because of blackmail.

The Role Of Women In Gucci

Women were looked down upon in the gucci empire.

There aren’t many biological Gucci women portrayed in House of Gucci . In reality, Guccio Gucci had five sons and one daughter named Grimalda . Grimalda spent years working for Gucci; however, upon her father’s death, all of her brothers were given a share of the Gucci inheritance, and she was left out. At one point, she and her husband, Giovanni Vitali, reportedly helped to save the company from bankruptcy in the mid-1920s.

One of Aldo’s sons, Roberto, claimed that Aldo said women weren’t allowed to be partners in Gucci. In her book In the Name of Gucci: A Memoir , Patricia Gucci discussed how she felt her aunt Grimalda was born as the wrong gender . Grimalda only received 12 million lire and a portion of land from her late father's inheritance despite having worked hard for the Gucci company. Her brothers blocked her attempt to have the will legally changed.

Members of the Gucci family have since spoken out about the film.

Members of the Gucci family have since spoken out about the film, complaining that it incorrectly portrayed Patrizia Reggiani as a victim fighting for her place in a male-centered workplace. In a statement the heirs of Aldo Gucci released, they claimed that Lady Gaga's Patrizia wasn’t actually fighting against sexism within the Gucci brand because, at that time, there were already “ several women who held top positions ” (via Variety ).

On the other hand, one thing that may lend a bit more truth to the film are statements made by several Gucci women. Not only did Patricia Gucci express sorrow over her aunt Grimalda for being “ born of the wrong gender ” in her book, but Paolo’s wife Jenny Gucci also wrote in Gucci Wars , “ It was a known fact in the world of Gucci that women were second-class citizens and would never be included in its management ​​​​​​.”

Rodolfo’s Wish

Rodolfo wanted patrizia kept away from gucci shares.

Even though Maurizio supervised nearly every one of Rodolfo’s visits as he began to pass away, Aldo managed to have one conversation of note with Rodolfo. This conversation is detailed in Patricia Gucci’s book In the Name of Gucci: A Memoir . She wrote that Rodolfo made Aldo swear to watch Maurizio and make sure that Patrizia Reggiani never got her hands on the company shares.

In her book, Patricia claimed that allowing Rodolfo’s daughter-in-law Patrizia to take an active role in Gucci made Aldo believe that he had let Rodolfo down by not upholding his final wishes in House of Gucci .

What Did The Gucci Family Say About House Of Gucci?

The gucci family bashed the movie.

The representation of Patrizia Reggiani as a victim in a male-dominated workspace wasn't the only issue the Gucci family had with Scott's depiction if their story. The full statement released by the family ( via Variety ), also claimed that House of Gucci 's story presented " the Gucci family as thugs, ignorant and insensitive to the world around them ."

While House of Gucci 's critical reception may have been mixed and its shot at the 2022 Oscars pretty much snubbed, this is nothing compared to the decidedly negative reaction that actual Gucci heirs have had to the film, which stems mainly from claims of inaccuracy.

What Did House Of Gucci Get Right?

The fashion aspects were perfect.

Although House of Gucci takes plenty of liberties with its retelling of the events, the film truly shines in its accurate depiction of fashion from the era. The House of Gucci true story ranges from 1978 to 1995, and the costumes in each scene are carefully crafted to showcase not only the Gucci family's immense wealth but also what luxury fashion actually looked like during these years. The same goes for hair and makeup, which is likely why House of Gucci was nominated for this category in the 2022 Academy Awards.

What Ridley Scott Thinks Of The House Of Gucci Controversy

Scott says the gucci family is lucky al pacino was in the movie.

Ridley Scott had harsh words for the Gucci family and their criticisms of his movie and its cast.

After the Gucci family slammed Scott's interpretation of them, director Ridley Scott fired back tenfold. While the Gucci clan believes that House of Gucci cast a dark cloud over their legacy, Scott thought his portrayal of them and the events that unfolded surrounding their brand was absolutely fine. Even Patricia Gucci, the only daughter of Aldo, disavowed Al Pacino's portrayal, saying that he didn't resemble her father at all.

In an interview (via Total Film ), Ridley Scott defended his casting choices along with his portrayal of the House of Gucci story. In terms of how Patricia felt about Aldo, Scott had this to say,

"The people that were writing from the family to us at the onset were alarmingly insulting, saying that Al Pacino did not represent physically Aldo Gucci in any shape or form, and yet, frankly, how could they be better represented than by Al Pacino? Excuse me! You probably have the best actors in the world, you should be so f*cking lucky."

Ridley Scott is 83-years-old and has directed 27 movies over 43 years, but he's still at the pinnacle of his career getting better reviews than ever.

House of Gucci also got some backlash over Jared Leto's Paolo Gucci, saying that he played an Italian caricature. However, Scott had words about this one too, saying, " [...] but there are pictures of Paolo and that’s exactly what Paolo looks like. We found the pictures and Jared did what he did and dressed the way Paolo dressed ." The Gucci family obviously didn't take Scott's portrayal of the family's true story lightly, and the director clearly had to go to bat for his film.

The House Of Gucci True Story Was Shocking - But It Didn't Dent Gucci's Sales

The movie actually helped gucci as a brand.

House of Gucci is a scathing look at the behind-closed-doors fights between the family members who own the Goliath fashion brand, and it'd be safe to assume that the movie might have somewhat damaged the company's sales. Nevertheless, despite depicting the unbelievable drama, the company's sales didn't drop whatsoever . However, House of Gucci did have an effect on Gucci's sales, as they actually increased. Shortly after the movie's release, online searches for Gucci products rose by 25%, and searches for vintage Gucci items rose by 35% (via NSS Mag ).

This shocking turn of events is being called "the House of Gucci effect," and it proves that there really is no such thing as bad publicity. Within three months of the movie being released, it was also reported that over 25,000 posts across news and social media were made about the brand, which garnered online visibility worth $104 million (via InStyle ). House of Gucci is ultimately about the owners of Gucci using the company as their own personal piggy bank, and it all ends in murder, betrayal, and bankruptcy — ironically becoming a very successful 150-minute commercial for the brand.

Did These Changes Help Or Hurt House Of Gucci?

The changes were needed & actually improved much of the story.

The changes from the true story to the movie had little effect on the film as a whole. When it comes to the people watching the movie, those who closely follow the Gucci brand or the people involved likely snubbed their noses at the project based on the massive backlash against the changes. However, most people who go to the movies don't care about such things, and it was all about the allure of seeing Lady Gaga on the big screen or watching a scandalous story with a murder at its core.

The changes involving the omission of the trial was likely smart, as this was a story about the relationship between Patrizia and the Gucci family, and the trial would have been a little too much if included at the end of the movie. If there was any change that likely hurt the movie, it was the reaction to Jared Leto's performance as Paolo, which made it hard to discern if this was a serious movie or a parody of a tragic event. Whatever the reason, the film was not a big box office success.

House of Gucci only made $147.4 million worldwide, with a dismal domestic take of $53.8 million (via Box Office Mojo ). With an estimated $75 million budget, it was a huge flop for Ridley Scott and a very disappointing release for the director. However, that didn't hurt its reception as it has a positive Rotten Tomatoes score (62%) and the audience score is a very high 83%. With that said, the changes likely helped as one positive reviewer wrote, " House of Gucci was very unexpected, mainly cause I knew nothing about their history ."

House of Gucci

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Ridley Scott's House of Gucci is a 2021 drama based on Sara Gay Forden's biographical book "The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour", and inspired by the real-life family behind the famous fashion brand Gucci. With a star-studded cast that includes Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Jared Leto, Jack Huston, and Salma Hayek, the movie focuses on Patrizia Reggiani's determination to take over her husband's dynasty and the events that motivated her to kill him.

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Arrow By The Numbers

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The Nautor Swan motor yacht Arrow at Sanlorenzo shipyard La Spezia launch.

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Ferretti Yachts and Riva to attend Moscow Boat Show 2013

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Written by Zuzana Bednarova

To be represented by Premium Yachts, Ferretti Yachts and Riva , two prestigious brands of the Ferretti Group, will be present at the Moscow International Boat Show 2013, displaying motor yacht Ferretti 530 as well as Riva Iseo yacht tender.

Luxury motor yacht Ferretti 530

Luxury yacht Ferretti 530 was very keen to undertake in collaboration once again with AYT – Advanced Yacht Technology, Ferretti Group Engineering Division and Studio Zuccon International Project . The compact dimensions, 16 meters long and almost 5 meters wide, allow the 530 yacht to deliver grand Italian luxury and cruising immersed in such comfort until now unheard of in a yacht of this size.

Ferretti 530 yacht boasts three revolutionary innovations: the full beam master cabin with chaise longue and two large open view windows that make it a real suite at sea level bathed in light, tones and the natural essences of teak. Moving the galley from the center to the aft section creates a unique open space that includes the saloon, galley, cocktail bar and the dining area, the cockpit area continues thanks to the tilting window. The roll bar free sky lounge and the spoiler allow the 530 a sporty appearance combined with elegantly formal lines.

Ferretti 530 Yacht - Interior

Riva , the iconic Ferretti Group brand, presented a new model at the historical Lake d’Iseo shipyards in July 2011. Featuring elegance and ease of transportation as its distinctive characteristics, Iseo superyacht tender , a 27 foot runabout, is destined to become a must-have for those who love cruising on both lakes and the sea, and, most importantly, design enthusiasts. It is also perfect for anyone wishing to enhance their yacht with an exclusive tender that will never go unnoticed.

Riva Iseo superyacht tender

Due to its ease of manoeuvrability and size, Iseo yacht tender is also ideal as a tender for large yachts. Innovative and elegant, it can also guarantee comfort in bad weather conditions. Besides the electrohydraulic bimini top, it was also designed with a waterproof, automobile-style soft top which protects those on board against water and the wind during cruising.

Please contact CharterWorld - the luxury yacht charter specialist - for more on superyacht news item "Ferretti Yachts and Riva to attend Moscow Boat Show 2013".

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