The real story behind the House of Gucci

Lady Gaga is being

Lady Gaga is being tipped for an Oscar for her role as a “black
widow” wife in Ridley Scott’s new film House of
Gucci.

Described by Glamour^[1] magazine as a “tale of
decadence, betrayal, revenge and ultimately murder”, the movie
follows the real-life plot by Italian socialite Patrizia
Reggiani to kill her ex Maurizio Gucci, former boss of the
famous fashion label.

 The film is out in UK cinemas on Friday.

‘Milanese Elizabeth Taylor’

The new release is based on The House of Gucci: A
Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed, a
book by journalist Sara Gay Forden that was published in 2001 – six
years after Reggiani hired a hitman to kill her ex
following their divorce.

In the heyday of their relationship, the couple, who had two
daughters, had been “famed for their lavish lifestyle”, said
Grazia^[2]. Reggiani
was “dubbed the ‘Milanese Elizabeth Taylor’”, while Gucci,
played in the film by Adam Driver, was “considered an entitled rich
kid who nearly put the family fashion empire into the ground”.

Reggiani also burned through a massive amount of money,
with an orchid habit “said to have set the Gucci dynasty back
£9,000 per month”, the magazine added. The couple sailed the
Caribbean on a 200ft yacht and had an array of properties across
the globe, from St Moritz to New York, where they socialised
with members of the Kennedy family and the Trumps.

The ‘black widow’

The luxury-loving pair’s relationship began to fall
apart after Gucci’s father, Rodolfo, died in 1983, leaving his
son with 50% of the fashion business. The husband and wife
disagreed on how to handle the company, and Gucci eventually left
Reggiani and fell in love with interior designer Paola Franchi
(played by in the film by French actor Camille Cottin).

In March 1995, a year after his divorce was
finalised, Gucci was “fatally shot by an unknown gunman as he
entered the building where he worked on via Palestro 20 in
Milan – a stone’s throw from the city’s fashion district”,
said Forbes^[3].

Detectives initially investigated theories that he might have
been “embroiled in shady transactions”, or that there had been “a
rupture within the family, infamous for its history of internal
feuds”, the magazine continued.

But then an informant claimed to have heard a night porter at a
one-star hotel in Milan boast about recruiting Gucci’s killer. The
allegation “led the authorities down a winding path that eventually
unravelled an assassination plot that placed, in the centre of it
all – in a plot twist too trite even for soap operas –
Gucci’s ex-wife”.

Nicknamed the “black widow” by the Italian media during her
trial, Reggiani was sentenced to 29 years in prison in 1997
after being found guilty of planning the killing. Her sentence was
later reduced to 26 years, of which she served 18. 

In 2016, two years after being released, Reggiani described
her life in Milan’s San Vittore prison to The Guardian^[4]. “I slept a lot. I took
care of my plants. I looked after Bambi, my pet ferret,” she
said.

The newspaper reported that being allowed a pet was “a special
privilege negotiated by her lawyer”, but that “the creature met a
sticky end when a fellow inmate accidentally sat on him”.

Reggiani still lives in Milan, where she is often
photographd walking around the city’s “more upscale
neighbourhoods” with “a pet macaw perched on her shoulder”,
said Vogue^[5]. 

The former socialite has always maintained her innocence,
although a reporter who tracked her down five years ago appeared to
catch her “in a reckless mood”, said The Guardian. Asked why
she hadn’t shot her husband herself, the ever-quotable Reggiani
responded: “My eyesight is not so good – I didn’t want to
miss.”

Family responds

Speaking about Scott’s movie, Reggiani told the Agenzia Nazionale Stampa
Associata^[6] that she was “annoyed”
that Gaga has portrayed her “without having had the consideration
and sensibility to come and meet me”.

“It is not an economic question,” Reggiani said. “I won’t
get a cent from the film. It is a question of good sense and
respect.”

The Gucci family told Associated
Press^[7] they were “truly
disappointed” by the movie. The filmmakers had stolen “the identity
of a family to make a profit”, said Patrizia Gucci, a second cousin
of the murdered fashion boss.

Scott brushed off the criticism during an interview yesterday
with BBC Radio 4’s Today^[8]
programme. “I don’t engage with that,” said the multiaward-winning
director. “You have to remember that one Gucci was murdered
and another went to jail for tax evasion, so you can’t be talking
to me about making a profit.

“As soon as you do that you become part of the public
domain.”