On Monday, as Milan Design Week was kicking off, architect Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli was giving me a tour of Gucci’s “Bamboo Encounters.” The hollow cane has been an enduring house code ...

The design was a success. Celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor, Ingrid Bergman, and Jackie Kennedy wore the bamboo-adorned bag in its early years and it continued to appeal to stylish, sophisticated ...