Mahoney Fashion

Archive for December, 2010

Some fashion brands start out on massive scales and end up bankrupted to oblivion. Others start from very humble beginnings and surprisingly transcend and become legendary. The latter are often considered more lucky than good. However, when you peer into the genius of the world-renowned brand, Gucci, you will find that luck has nothing to do with it.

Guccio Gucci was born in 1881 as the son of a modest craftsman. He spent most of his childhood years contented that he’d follow in his father’s footsteps. But after honing his talents for crafting leather goods, Gucci decided to open a saddle shop, where he began to sell his leather goods to the public.

Gucci’s clientele admired his keen eye for detail. During the 1920s, he began to fashion leather bags and sell them to various horsemen. Eventually, he progressed to high-end leather luggage after the horseback riders went the way of the horseless carriage.

Gucci quickly became a recognized name throughout Italy, and in 1938 he opened his first retail shop on the Via Condotti in Rome. For the next decade, Gucci’s brand became one of the finest in the country, and began to receive worldwide acclaim for the unmistakable craftsmanship.

1947 was the year Gucci introduced their iconic handbag, a leather bag with a bamboo handle. This bag single handedly launched the Gucci rush, and during the 1950s, the trademark red striped webbing (how Gucci is characterized today) was introduced. Guccio spent the first few years of the 50s solidifying his place in the fashion world. His family took over the successful company after Gucci’s death in 1953. The new structure and multiple brains behind the everyday operations decided that Paris, London, Palm Beach, Tokyo, and Beverly Hills were the next logical stops along the road. By 1970, Gucci had become a worldwide empire.

Their superstardom is in part due to Hollywood stars like Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn and Jackie Kennedy, who proudly adorned Gucci shoulder bags during the 1960s. Subsequently, the Gucci bag became known simply as the “Jackie O.” Gucci, through all of their massive success, weren’t without their fair share of turmoil during their meteoric rise to fame. Even though the company was doing well, the family seemed to argue over the slightest indifference.

Maurizio Gucci took over the ailing business from his brother, only to sell it to an Arabian businessman during the 1980s. Tom Ford, Gucci’s newest executive in the 1990s, worked to purchase the Gucci name and take the company to never before seen heights. The Gucci brand of today is a far cry from the handbag distributors of old. The Gucci brand sells perfume, cologne, full wardrobes, sunglasses, shoes, and other accessories. They’re constantly atop the fashion world’s list of biggest sellers.

Private gentleman’s clubs in London are a big deal and have been for hundreds of years. While other countries like the US have their fair share of private member’s only clubs, it is England’s rich history that really gives these types of clubs the royalist feel.

The Carlton Club in London claims to be one of the oldest and most elite private Conservative clubs in not only England, but the world. Although its popularity has tapered off significantly since the height of its regard some hundred years ago, the club is still frequented by more than a handful of affluent members. The clubhouse was established for and still used by UK’s Conservative Party (political).

While the Carlton Club may be located in the old Arthur’s Club location now, it was originally founded in 1832. Tory Peers (the namesake of the traditionalist political philosophy Toryism, not a person), gentlemen and MPs started a private club to chat and coordinate various party activities after their party lost the First Reform Act.

In modern times, this club would be called a think tank, and the Carlton Club played perfect host to the men as they transformed their party from the Tories to the Conservatives. However, after the franchise grew in the late 1800s, Carlton Club lost its appeal. It still remained the principal headquarters for talks, but only ministers, party managers and MPs frequented the location.

The Carlton Club was named as such due to its location, Carlton Terrace. But with the expansion of the franchise and growth of members, the location quickly became too small to host any meaningful event. Pall Mall, London would be home to both the second and third clubs, and the club is most famous for the party’s overthrowing of leader Austen Chamberlain in 1922.

During the Blitz in 1940, Carlton Club took a direct hit that was absolutely devastating to the exterior of the club. However, and most astonishingly, no one inside the building was killed. Even with the complete outside of the building reduced to rubble, all inside remained relatively unharmed.

Deciding that the party’s principles were worth fighting for, the men immediately changed the location of their club, taking over the 69 St. James’s Street location where Arthur’s Club was housed. The club has remained there for nearly 80 years, even seeing a drastic shift in the UK to a more “social” political philosophy.

The Carlton Club would be attacked yet again, only this time by terrorists and not during a war. On June 25, 1990, the IRA (Provisional Irish Republican Army) bombed the club, injuring nearly two dozen and killing Lord Kaberry.

The club was ultra-exclusive, only catering to men who were Conservatives and could be expected to help further the ideals of the Conservative Party. In order to obtain membership previously, you would have to be recommended by another member and then seconded.

In the 1970s, Carlton Club changed their uber-traditionalist ways and started allowing women to become associate members, meaning they could participate in the club but not be granted voting rights. This too changed when, in 1975, Lady Thatcher became a Conservative leader and thus an honorary member of the club. But this honor was only for Thatcher. Carlton Club didn’t grant full rights to women until 2008.

The 2010 Dakar Rally took place in South America on a route from Argentina to Chile. This two-week event is one of the largest in the world, and until 2009, the Dakar was held in Europe. Organized by the Amaury Sport Organisation, the Dakar Rally is a rally raid off-road event, featuring various types of all-terrain vehicles.

Dakar started in 1979 and has proven to be one of the sport’s most grueling endurance races. Hundreds of competitors enter the 16-day event, but only around half the field manages to finish.

The South American Dakar began on New Year’s Day in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The idea is to race an all-terrain course to Chile and back again. In total, 362 teams showed up to compete in the endurance race. 134 cars, 42 trucks and 176 motorcycles and ATVs launched from the podium in hopes of winning the race.

Not only do the drivers have to survive the exhausting conditions of constant motoring, but the vehicles also need to make the trek. Dakar is certainly large enough to break down even the most seasoned competitor’s will. The 2010 race took place over a 9,000 kilometer course, including 4,000 kilometers of special stages, gravel roads, sand dunes, a salt flat, and 3,000 kilometers through the Andes Mountains.

The giant Dakar course is equivalent to 24 Formula One races. Throughout the race, there are many accidents that happen on and off the road. In this year’s race, a spectator, Sonia Natalia Gallardo, was killed after the German Micro Schultis ran off the road and plowed into a group of spectators seated in the ironically named “safe zone.”

Dakar is broken down into four categories, so there’s more than one winner overall. You have the Cars, Trucks, Quads, and Bikes categories. In the cars battle, Volkswagens, BMWs and Hummers seem to do the best, and everyone else is essentially left playing catch-up.

In the cars category, the top three finishers were driving VWs – Carlos Sainz (1st), Nasser Al-Attiyah (2nd) and Mark Miller (3rd). Surprisingly, the only Hummer to finish in the top ten this year was Robby Gordon – NASCAR driver – in his Hummer buggy with an 8th place finish.

The bikes are what most people are interested in. Bike riders need to be in great shape to handle heavy two-wheelers through the incredibly rough terrain. On top of that, bikers ride solo, so they also have to be great mechanics. Any rider has to be able to fix the problem quickly and get back out on the road.

Only 88 bike riders managed to finish the race. Cyril Despres and Pal Anders Ullevalseter finished 1st and 2nd respectively, driving KTMs. Rounding out the top five were Francisco Lopez Contardo, Helder Rodrigues and David Fretigne.

Vladimir Chagin finished first in the truck category with a total ride time of 55 hours, and Marcos Patronelli bested the quad field on his Yamaha with a time of 64 hours and 17 minutes – 2 hours in front of the 2nd place finisher.