Gucci Suits

Whether its trademark G's adorn loafers or luggage, suits or silk scarves, the Gucci name has long stood for quiet elegance at a price. Yet the heirs of Saddlemaker Guccio Gucci have proved to be noisy and unrestrained in their battles for control of the burgeoning family empire. In recent years, the best-known Gucci suits have been filed in courtrooms from Florence to Manhattan.

The latest chapter of Gucci vs. Gucci unfolded last week, when an Italian magistrate seized Chairman Maurizio Gucci's controlling interest in the firm amid charges of skulduggery. Said Maurizio: "The accusations brought against me are the evident expression of a preordained personal attack."

That the attack was launched by his cousin Roberto, 52, and uncle Aldo, 80, the previous chairman, comes as no surprise in a family fraught with feuds. Their suit alleges that Maurizio, 36, fraudulently obtained his late father Rodolfo's 50% interest in the company by arranging to have Rodolfo's signature forged on a shares document soon after the father died in May 1983. Maurizio succeeded Aldo as chairman last year and has spurred an internal reorganization of the company.

The stakes behind the squabble are considerable. Founded in Florence in 1906 by Maurizio's grandfather, the firm markets products ranging from $80 shoes to $6,000 handbags in 150 stores and 200 franchise outlets worldwide (1982 sales: a reported $300 million). In the U.S., Gucci gewgaws can be found on Fifth Avenue and Rodeo Drive, as well as in department stores like Macy's and Denver Dry Goods. Great care is taken to maintain the quality that has earned the loyalty of such customers as King Juan Carlos of Spain and Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev's wife Raisa, as well as of those of more modest means who can afford only the occasional status symbol.

Gucci's success has spawned imitators on five continents. The firm maintains staffs in Rome, London and New York City to ferret out the increasingly sophisticated fakes that are drawing off millions of dollars a year in sales.

Even as the Guccis battle enemies around them, they seem unable to forge a workable peace within. The suit against Maurizio is only the latest family feud to land in the courts. In 1982, Aldo was sued by his son Paolo, 54, formerly Gucci's chief designer, who accused his father, brothers and cousin Maurizio of beating him up to settle an argument during a riotous board of directors meeting.

( Embarrassing as that case must have been to all concerned, another of several suits brought by Paolo against his father has attracted an opponent more stubborn than any grudging relative: the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Paolo alleged that Aldo evaded substantial U.S. corporate and income taxes by squirreling away company funds in a series of overseas front operations. That accusation has sparked an IRS investigation that may prove to be more damaging than any quarrel within the House of Gucci.