Where it was filmed 'House of Gucci'

With its focus on three decades of history of a prominent Italian fashion house, the film’s design is the result of in-depth research into the magazines, photographs, documentary footage and Gucci products from those eras to ensure that each decade was perfectly reproduced, not only in the clothing but also in the fashion shows’ music and lighting.

The main location was Rome. The exterior of the “Insight” store in the Talenti area, between via Ugo Ojetti and via Fucini, was transformed into the Gucci Fifth Avenue shop (in dark gold and brown wood) in Manhattan: the New York background was created with enormous blue backdrops while the atmosphere was provided by classic yellow taxis (Chevrolets and Ford) and traffic suitable for the Big Apple. Other scenes were shot in via dei Condotti (a Gucci boutique) and Parco Leonardo in Fiumicino.

The production used a real-life textile design studio in the Trastevere neighbourhood of Rome for Paolo Gucci’s design studio in Milan. When it came to the crucial homicide scene, the real-life location where it took place on the morning of 27 March 1995 – via Palestro 20, Milan – was considered colourless and unimpressive so was replaced by an area in Rome whose mix of architectural styles, Gothic, Renaissance and Arabic, and wide roads could credibly represent Milan. The Gucci house in Milan in the series is actually in Rome, in the Coppedè neighbourhood to be precise. The wedding which – in real life - took place in the Church of the Holy Spirit in Milan was shot in Rome in Santa Maria in Portico in Campitelli, in the Sant’Angelo neighbourhood. There are glimpses of Rome’s so-called palazzaccio, the Palace of Justice, in scenes of Patrizia Reggiani’s trial.

Studio 54, the iconic late 1970s discotheque often frequented by the Gucci family, was recreated in a range of “black boxes” in a large warehouse near Rome’s Fiumicino airport as were the fashion shows. Other interiors were built in the soundstages of Cinecittà Studios.

The production also shot interiors and exteriors in Milan, including a scene that transformed the city into the centre of Manhattan: a modern Milanese bank building in glass and polished stone became the eccentric Gucci emporium on Canal Street, Lower Manhattan. Just as interior set design here focused on representing an Eighties New York look, the surrounding area, which includes via Vittor Pisani near the Central Station, was also transformed into an early 1980s 42^nd Street market with vintage objects from Manhattan, including postboxes, phone boxes, hydrants and hot dog carts.

Other sets were created outside the Università Statale (Patrizia gives Maurizio her number in the parking lot in via Festa del Perdono), in piazza della Scala where the elegant luncheon at Il Salumaio restaurant on via Santo Spirito was set, in the heart of the via Montenapoleone fashion district, corso Venezia, galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, via Marina and piazza Duomo. The production used Villa Necchi Campiglio, today a museum, for the house of Rodolfo Gucci where Maurizio Gucci’s funeral takes place.

The scenes in Saint Moritz, Switzerland, Gucci family would spend the winter holidays were shot in Gressoney-Saint-Jean, in Val d’Aosta, outside Villa Loubenò, built in the early 1900s, on the slopes of Weissmatten and in the picnic area of Gressoney-La-Trinité.

The production also shot on the west bank of lake Como in Villa Balbiano which was built at the end of the 16^thcentury, using it for Aldo Gucci’s Italian residence; the setting, amongst other scenes, for a poolside party.