What drove dizzy Helen to squeals of utter delight on Friday night? Not the fact that against all earlier odds she very nearly won the Big Brother tele -contest. Not the crowd's banners celebrating her high-decibel but low-sense exclamations. Not even the sight of Paul (plus countless friends and Adams family members) eagerly awaiting her emergence from the infamous house. No. What really got her going was the distinctive dark bronze gift-wrapping and logo-embellished ribbon that now envelops every purchase made at a Gucci boutique. And, of course, the G-monogram pattern of the dainty little handbag which she found within.
Now, those dancing Gs enjoy near-universal recognition - proclaiming status and fashion credibility in roughly equal measures. They echo the illogical yet compelling desirability of the Louis Vuitton monogram or Burberry's near -ubiquitous house-check. For carrying a G-monogram bag suggests membership of a stylistic coterie - the Tom Ford fan club, if you please. Know what? It clearly pleases Helen Adams very much.
Top: Gucci's leather-trimmed G-monogram canvas hobo bag with leather trim, (pounds) 335
Above: Gucci's red leather bag with gilt trim, (pounds) 225
Left: Gucci's G-monogram mules with red leather trim, (pounds) 139
Right: Gucci's leather-trimmed canvas 'Jackie' bag, (pounds) 319
Below: Gucci's small
G-monogram canvas
zip-top bag, (pounds) 109
Right: Gucci's red leather high-heeled shoes, (pounds) 219
Gucci shoes and bags are available at Cruise, Ingram Street, Glasgow, and George Street, Edinburgh; Frasers, Buchanan Street, Glasgow; Harrods, Brompton Road, London SW3; Gucci, Old Bond Street, London W1, and Sloane Street, London SW1
Sex on legs: babydoll evening dresses (above and below) from Tom Ford's autumn -winter 2001 collection for Gucci, available mid-august at Cruise, Ingram Street, Glasgow; Harrods, Brompton Road, London SW3; Gucci, Old Bond Street, London W1, and Sloane Street, London SW1
Why were there squeals of utter delight outside the Big Brother house last week? John Davidson describes the Gucci effect.
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Like so many young women (and men, too), she is clearly in thrall to Tom Ford's revisionist strategy for Gucci. She might not even recognise his name - even if she did, dippy Helen would surely be the devotee most likely to assume that Ford is heir to a car-manufacturing plant in Dagenham or a world-famous rehabilitation clinic rather than the creative supremo of a truly great Italian luxury goods house. But as far as this endearingly dippy Welsh valley girl is concerned, nothing in today's world quite matches the glamour or status typified by those distinctive little Gs which dance across the surface of her brand-new bag.
Under Tom Ford's tenure, Gucci has produced a succession of covetable bag designs which have galvanised sales - and unleashed countless imitations. Indeed, the "hobo" and "Jackie" styles shown here must rank among the most -copied shapes in the history of luxury-brand leathergoods.
Yet, while today's image of the Gucci brand may be drawn from Ford's influential runway shows, the Gucci business (like that of so many upscale fashion houses) is still driven by its accessories business. Gucci accessories are expensive. Their availability is restricted to a handful of exclusive and prestigious stores. Even so, these beautifully crafted shoes and bags have a certain accessibility for consumers who cannot quite contemplate the substantially higher price and stylistic edge of Gucci clothing.
In front of a reputed seven million viewers, Paul made Helen's fashion dream a reality. Previously, on her birthday, she had eschewed a Gucci gift from the Big Brother people - opting, instead, for a party in which all her housemates could participate. But around 10 past 10 on Friday evening Helen finally became the very excited owner of a handbag (plus some perilously high heels) from this celebrated luxury goods house.
The regeneration of this house has become a model for the entire luxury goods sector. Thanks to Ford's remarkable efforts, Gucci clothes are now worn by the latter-day jet-set - and every fashion devotee blessed with the combination of financial wherewithal and physical perfection required to carry off their sexy glamour.
Just four days since she left the Big Brother house and flew into Paul Clark's arms . . . But already there's another man in her life. Helen Adams hasn't reinstated Big G, the boyfriend who publicly dumped this dizzy hairdresser halfway through her internment. Nor has she fallen for any other prize catch from her native Welsh valley. The man with whom Paul Clark must now vie for his sweetheart's attention is that super-cool, suave, urbane fashion force known as Tom Ford - the Texan designer who has made Gucci the name on the world's most fashionable hips.
But Ford has something which so many rival designers lack: a consummate sense of timing. Having at first resisted the house's signature G-monogram canvas, he reintroduced it the moment that Gucci secured its first taste of renewed high-fashion credibility.
