a prison where Albert Nipon was also an inmate). The artwork of the Gucci Galleria was liquidated. In 1988, Maurizio Gucci sold almost 47.8% of Gucci to the Bahrain-based investment fund Investcorp (owner of Tiffany since 1984), and withheld the other 50%. Despite the family disputes, between 1981 and 1987, the sales of trademarked Gucci products reached $400 million, and $227 million in 1990 alone. The 1980s were characterized by a mass-production of Gucci products, which generated revenue but negatively affected Gucci's position as an exclusive luxury brand. Maurizio Gucci hired Dawn Mello to put Gucci back on tracks. From 1991 to 1993, Gucci's finances were still in the red. Maurizio Gucci was blamed for spending extravagant amounts of money on the company's headquarters in Florence (Via delle Caldaie palazzo) and in Milan. Investcorp bought the remaining 50% of Guccio Gucci S.p.A. from Maurizio Gucci in 1993, ending the family involvement in the group. In March 1995, Maurizio Gucci was shot dead in the lobby of Gucci's Milan office. His ex-wife Patrizia Reggiani served 16 years in jail for hiring the hitman to murder him. Porno Chic Revival Dawn Mello was hired in November 1989 as Gucci's executive vice president and chief designer. She reduced the number of stores from over 1,000 to 180 in a move to rebuild the brand's exclusivity. She also reduced the number of items sold by Gucci from 22,000 to 7,000. She revived the Bamboo bag and the Gucci loafer. She moved Gucci's headquarters back from Milan to Florence, where the history of Gucci is deeply rooted. Dawn Mello hired Tom Ford to oversee the women's ready-to-wear collection. In 1994, Tom Ford was named creative director of Gucci. Ford and Mello revisited the 1970s archives of the brand. Ford's 1995 collection, which included the sensual white dresses with provocative cut-outs, became an instant hit. Revived through the hot-bod hedonism of Tom Ford's creations, Gucci also launched provocative products in limited edition such as silver handcuffs, a G-string and provocative ad campaigns such as the G logo shaved on pubic hair. Domenico De Sole, legal adviser to the Gucci family since the 1980s and CEO of Gucci since 1994, campaigned for Gucci's leather manufacturers in Italy to keep working together and developed a partners' program to strengthen their ties. He reviewed the pricing of each product and gradually raised Gucci's advertising budget from $6 million in