Factual error: When Patrizia Reggiani signs cheques on her father's behalf, the bank that issues them is "Banca di Credito Colli Briani." Reasonably enough, is a completely made up name for a bank, but also bizarre because "Colli Briani" would be a toponym ("Briani Hills") but does not match any name in Italy - at most "Colli Briantei", which would be the Brianza region, not far from Milan where the story takes place. No other names of places or people in the rest of the movie are fictional. Moreover, the cheques don't have the number of the account they are associated with, and they are out of order. (00:03:40)
Factual error: When Patrizia is stalking Maurizio pretending to read some law book from the university, she's leaning against a shelf that sports a grey book by the title "Formazione; I metodi." On the book, you can see the logo of the publisher, Raffaello Cortina Editore, founded in 1980. The scene is set in 1978 (the book is from 2014, incidentally, and the scene was shot at the Cortina bookstore). Another even more obviously anachronistic book is next to Maurizio on the lower shelf; about the regulations of the European Union, which didn't exist at the time. (00:08:25)
Factual error: When Maurizio notices Patrizia peeking at him from behind the law book, you get a look at the bottom shelves of the store. A large book bears the title "Come funziona la psicologia", Italian version of a Jo Hemmings book from 2019. The scene is set in 1978. (00:08:30)
Factual error: The scene inside the bookstore takes place in March 1978, as shown also by the calendar behind Adam Driver, which says "March 1978." But, it's not a March 1978 calendar. The Sundays (marked in red) don't match. They just took whatever calendar they had and changed the top. (00:09:40)
Factual error: Lady Gaga is painting her toenails listening to some music on her portable cassette player. It's 1978, and walkman-type players were introduced the year after. (00:11:00)
Factual error: Adam Driver and Lady Gaga are eating some street food in Piazza del Duomo in Milan after trying the expensive and historic Savini restaurant. The scene begins with in frame the sign of the jewelry store Currado, a brand established in the 90s and that opened that particular store in 2007. (00:12:00)
Factual error: In the opening view of the lunch where Maurizio's father meets Patrizia and is less than impressed by her, an elderly lady is reading a newspaper. On the newspaper there' s the ad for "Il profumo del potere", which is the Italian version of TV miniseries/soap "Bare essence", judging from the photo the two-part, 4-hour version. It came out in Italy in December 1983, and the scene is set in the late '70s. (00:15:15)
Factual error: Rodolfo's brother Aldo has a real knack for business, since he comes with a business proposition to sell Gucci products at the Gotemba Mall in Japan in 1980, when the mall opened in the year 2000. (00:29:50)
Factual error: During Aldo's phone call to the newlyweds, above the washing machine there's a bottle of "Omino Bianco" laundry detergent. It's an Italian brand that in the 80s was exclusively an additive bleach in powder form, the one in the movie is the modern liquid detergent version. (00:33:30)
Factual error: When Patrizia gives her reluctant father-in-law the locket the birthdate of the baby is not only historically inaccurate (real life Alessandra Gucci was born in 1977, in the movie they hadn't even met by that time) but does not fit the altered timeline of the movie itself, since it says January 20th 1980. It was established that they met in 1978 and married 2 years after that, so a baby in early 1980 is way too soon considering the pregnancy happens way after the wedding in the movie too. (00:58:40)
Factual error: At the Versace fashion show set in 1983, the photographers are using cameras with modern flashes installed, complete with LCD displays. (01:08:55)
Factual error: In the audience of the Versace show in 1983, there's a shot in the crowd showing someone portraying Karl Lagerfeld, in company of his iconic cat. Lagerfeld wasn't known for carrying felines around during that part of his career. (01:09:00)
Factual error: Backstage at Versace's in 1983, in the scene with the enigmatic "Walter" the song from Eric B. And Rakim, "Paid In Full" plays diegetically. The song was a 1987 release. (01:09:05)
Factual error: When Maurizio is discussing for the first time Paolo's burgeoning business, on the table you can see San Pellegrino bottled water with the modern format and packaging instead of the appropriate bottle shape and label for 1983 that appears in other scenes. (01:11:00)
Factual error: When Patrizia tells Maurizio that she talked to Paolo, the coffee table showcases a variety of books completely inappropriate for the 1983 timeframe (for instance there's "All Prints of Kusama Yayoi" with her pumpkin print from 2005 on the cover and "The Lives of Others" by Simon Watson, which came out in 2020). (01:16:45)
Factual error: Aldo Gucci's arrest happened in January 1986, but when Paolo reads the news on "La Stampa", the article next to it refers to researcher Thomas Chalmers asking for a smoking ban on US airlines. That's August of the same year. (01:21:10)
Factual error: The judge sentences Aldo to a year and a day of prison, and that's accurate, but he adds "In a state penitentiary." Aldo Gucci served time at the so called "Club Fed", the Federal Prison Camp of Eglin. (01:22:50)
Factual error: When Paolo insults Maurizio and Patrizia after the disaster at his fashion show, in the background there's a street sign (a red and blue circle with a cross) which was introduced only in 1992. The scene is set in 1986. (01:25:50)
Factual error: When the Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) arrives at Maurizio's Mansion, it should be in the late 80s, but they drive an Alfa Romeo 155. This car was produced from 1992 until 1998. (01:29:21)
Factual error: In the scene after the "stealing" argument with Paola, Patrizia asks her indifferent husband "Do you like my hair?" He's reading a page from "Il Foglio." First, it can't be the actual newspaper because it literally means "The Sheet" and its format is exactly that, a single page and he's reading a large bundle of pages, but more importantly, "Il Foglio" was founded in 1996, after Gucci's death. (01:43:55)
Answer: Yes. Basically, within the narrative of the film, Maurizio is weak-willed and easily manipulated by Patrizia; he didn't even want to be involved in running Gucci in the first place and has no real business acumen. So, he both overextends the firm and spends a huge amount of money on an extravagant lifestyle, which leaves him in financial trouble and at the mercy of a hostile takeover.