I didn't pick up on this until the very end but this book was first published in the very early 2000s. The only sign of this was that the only time rap music was mentioned in the entire book concerned rappers in the 1980s wearing Gucci and this having been perceived as bad for the brand's image. Subtle prejudiced European attitudes were covered in better detail in The Tanning of America in a passage revolving around the brand Cristal.

As others have said, the irony is that the business side of the book overwhelms the glamorous, fashion-forward narrative you were expecting when you stumbled upon it in an airport bookstore.

Though too long of a book for any of my usual flights (even as a round-trip book), The House of Gucci served as pleasant easy reading before bed and at other low-octane moments of the day after I returned home.