Friday April 1, 2011
Artisans hand-stitch New Jackie and New Bamboo bags
Gucci leather goods are handcrafted in Italy, yet today they’re being “Made in Boston” labels.
In celebration of its 90th anniversary, the Gucci fashion house flew three artisans from its Florence factory here to assemble the New Jackie and the New Bamboo bags in its Back Bay store.
“It’s a traveling show of what happens in their Gucci factory in Florence,” said the store’s spokesman.
Visitors to the store (800 Boylston St., 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.) will see these artists complete the final steps of the assembly process, which require between 80 and 120 individual pieces of leather. Both bags (the Jackie is named for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who carried the bag in the 1980s) typically take one craftsman more than a day to hand-stitch.
“We haven’t changed much about how we go about constructing our bags,” said the spokesman.
A new generation of celebrity fans, which includes singer Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine, keep the bags in the public eye. Yet luxury pricing limits accessibility for folks in the real world. According to Gucci.com, a black Jackie retails for $1,900 and a white leather Bamboo costs $2,350.
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