[3] At the age of 17 Pucci traveled to Lake Placid, New York, as part of the Italian team at the 1932 Winter Olympics, where he did not compete.

[6][citation needed] In 1938, Pucci joined the Italian Air Force, and served as an SM.79 torpedo bomber pilot during World War II, rising to the rank of captain[3] and receiving decorations for valour.

[4] After Adolf Hitler vetoed the scheme, Pucci drove Edda to the Swiss border on 9 January 1944 and ensured her escape.

[4] Before departing, Edda wrote last pleas to Hitler, Mussolini, and General Wilhelm Harster, the SD commander in Italy, and Pucci delivered these letters to an intermediary.

[7] Although there had been some experiments with stretch fabrics in Europe before the war, Pucci's sleek designs caused a sensation, and he received several offers from American manufacturers to produce them.

[3] Instead, he left the Air Force and set up an haute couture house in the fashionable resort of Canzone del Mare on the Isle of Capri.

Initially, he used his knowledge of stretch fabrics to produce a swimwear line in 1949, but he soon moved onto other items such as brightly coloured, boldly patterned silk scarves.

[8] Pucci added a boutique in Rome as business thrived, helped by Capri's role as a destination for the international jet set.

[9] As the decade progressed his designs were worn by everyone from actress Sophia Loren to author Jacqueline Susann to First Lady Jackie Kennedy, as well as later pop icons such as Madonna[10] during an early 1990s period of 60s revival.

[13] In fashion history, especially during the period of the 1950s and 1960s, Pucci was a perfect transition example between luxurious couture and ready-to-wear in Europe and the North America.

The venture proved to be successful, and Pucci was made vice president in charge of design and merchandising for the company a year later.

In 1965, New York ad agency Jack Tinker and Associates was hired by Braniff International Airways to update their image.

The agency's Mary Wells hired Alexander Girard to remodel the terminals, and Pucci to design new clothes for the hostesses.

[25] Pucci boutiques in the U.S., all designed by the Brazilian Lena Pessoa [fr], are located in New York City, Las Vegas, Bal Harbour, Palm Beach, Beverly Hills, Boston, South Coast Plaza, East Hampton, New York, Miami and coming soon to Dallas.