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As Gucci arrives at ASDA, how it became one of the world's most recognised fashion brands

Gucci items will be sold for as little as £25 - Getty Images
Gucci items will be sold for as little as £25 - Getty Images

There will be something of a fashion treasure hunt to play around the UK this Friday 26 November. Hidden amongst the shelves at Asda supermarkets around Britain will be a selection of vintage Gucci pieces. No need to assume that the logo emblazoned cardigan you’ve spotted is lost property, to be handed in at the vivid green front desk. It is for sale, and from as little as £12.

The 30 second-hand Gucci items up for grabs in locations including London, Bristol, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Brighton, include belts, socks and dresses and will be priced at a maximum of £25. The launch comes in celebration of the cinema release of Ridley Scott’s biopic, House of Gucci.

It’s not an official collaboration between the luxury Italian design house and the grocer to the masses, as such, but rather a special one-off edit arranged by Asda’s vintage selling partner, PreLoved. As one of its environmental commitments, Asda has stocked second hand clothing in 50 supermarkets since the beginning of this year.

A Gucci belt which will be hidden for shoppers to find - Courtesy of Asda
A Gucci belt which will be hidden for shoppers to find - Courtesy of Asda

But will Gucci-mania manage to outdo the general Black Friday-mania at supermarkets on Friday morning? Quite possibly.

Since current artistic director Alessandro Michele was appointed in 2015, the Gucci brand has experienced exponential, unwavering growth. As well as developing his own kooky-cool more-is-more handwriting on the catwalk, Michele, who first joined the brand back in 2002 during Tom Ford’s directorial heyday, knows a thing or five about the power of logos and brand perception.

A part of Ford’s original successful formula was his balance between delivering exceedingly sexy, eye-wateringly expensive clothes, whilst ensuring that the house’s logo remained desirable, recognisable and just about accessible to all. Michele’s maximalist aesthetic has validated logomania all over again, pushing out minimalism in fashion.

Gwyneth Paltrow on 2 November, wearing a new Gucci suit modelled on one which she wore on the red carpet back in 1996 - Getty Images
Gwyneth Paltrow on 2 November, wearing a new Gucci suit modelled on one which she wore on the red carpet back in 1996 - Getty Images

These days any Gucci thing is a most-wanted thing. Gucci logo socks sell for £145 per pair, belts for £300 - there is something for just about everyone.

The new film, available to watch in cinemas nationwide from Friday, stars Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani of the original Gucci family. It reenacts the life, trial and conviction of Reggiani, who hired a hitman to kill her ex-husband Maurizio Gucci in 1995 (one year into Ford’s tenure at the family’s fashion house). It’s a story that many young fans of the brand may not know, or others will have forgotten, despite it being highly publicised at the time.

Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani in House of Gucci - Fabio Lovino
Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani in House of Gucci - Fabio Lovino

It’s a dark, dramatic story, yet to put the brand’s name in lights via Gaga (wearing Gucci on the red carpet), Adam Driver and the rest of the A-list cast, only seems to have made us want it all the more.

Designer resale authority Vestiaire Collective reports a 25 percent increase in searches for Gucci items since the trailer for the new film was released, with a spike of 40 percent more interest specifically in items from the Tom Ford era. Gucci is now the most popular pre-loved designer brand in the UK, Italy and the Netherlands, according to second-hand fashion site Rebelle.

Acknowledging the power of the designer resale market, Michele also launched Gucci’s own vintage outlet, the Gucci Vault, in September. On Monday 29 November he will receive the Trailblazer Award at The Fashion Awards held at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

The cast of the House of Gucci film on the red carpet - Getty Images
The cast of the House of Gucci film on the red carpet - Getty Images

The fact that Michele’s new designs often look like they could be vintage items further validates interest in the brand’s products - old and new. That, combined with the costumes in the film which immortalise key silhouettes from the late 1980s and early 1990s, and the prediction is that there will be yet further interest in the brand after the film is out.

If you’re already sitting on vintage Gucci items at home, the message from Vestiaire Collective is this; sell now, and cash in. Listings of Gucci items are also up 80 percent on last year.

And if you don’t yet own a vintage piece? Head to Asda, of all places, to find what might just prove to be a golden ticket.