The House of Gucci was founded in Florence in 1906 by Guccio Gucci, originally as a family saddlery leather shop. As the company's reputation quickly grew, Gucci expanded to a new base in Rome, and, after Guccio's death in 1953, the company went international, opening boutiques throughout the world. Today, despite a tremendous blip in fortunes that was halted by the arrival of Tom Ford in 1993, Gucci maintains its position as one of the world's leading prestige brands.