Gucci first put a horsebit – the metal mullen that chomps into a horse’s mouth to allow the rider to control its direction – on a soft leather loafer in 1953. It was, by then, a non-essential bit of tack, a nod to an equestrian tradition in leather making that allied the brand with European aristocracy, even if everyone was driving cars by then. That was also the first year Gucci expanded outside of Italy, opening a store in New York City and beginning to export an idea of innatehellip;

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