There's a new Gucci on the job. Although, she's not technically allowed to use the fashion giant's name. Gucci has been known to take legal action against family members who try to use the name to start their own brands. Alessandra Gucci will be creating a new line of designer alligator handbags, calling it AG. What are Alessandra's qualifications to design purses? Well, she has a degree in economics, and ummm, her last name is Gucci. Works for me.

AG will feature three styles, all made by artisans in Tuscany. There will be a pink, a blue and a jungle bag, each named after a member of the Gucci family, her father, Maurizio Gucci, her grandfather Rodolfo Gucci, and of course, Alessandra herself. Do you notice someone missing from that list? Yep, Alessandra's mom didn't get the nod.

There's actually an interesting back story on that...

Patrizia Reggiani, Alessandra's mom, had Maurizio gunned down after the two divorced. Seriously, it was an arranged murder. Patrizia got her henchmen to kill him in '95. But she's a sly one. The Italian police didn't catch up to her until two years after his death. When they finally got their act together and went to go take her into the slammer, she was arrested wearing a fur coat. It's like I always say, once a fashionista, always a fashionista. Patrizia was known for once telling people, "I'd rather cry in a Rolls-Royce than laugh on a bicycle," so is it really surprising that she wanted to go to jail dressed to impress? A women has to have her priorities straight! And things just got worse. In 2000 she tried to kill herself in jail but the suicide attempt was a failure.

I was going to say that this family's history would make a great soap opera. But, it's already a book -- The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour and Greed. If the story is already a book this means it's only a matter of time before it becomes a movie. Personally, I think Meryl Streep as Patrizia would make for a great fashion forward villain, don't you agree?

[Via WWD and CNN.]