Fashion in Florence

Prior to coming to Florence, I always assumed that Milan was not only the fashion capital of Italy, but of the world.  It turns out that Florence has a very prevalent fashion scene with a lot of history as well.  As the birthplace of the Renaissance, the city has a ton of amazing art, fashion, and architectural sites.  Two of my favorites, are the Gucci Museum and the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum; both in the heart of Florence!

 Within my first week of being in Italy, I visited the Gucci Museum with two fellow D&M students.  It was small and quaint, but filled with so many beautiful treasures that took the viewer through the timeline of Gucci.  The first floor of the museum was dedicated to his travel and luggage pieces, which included a gorgeous Cadillac with a Gucci interior.  What was interesting about this floor was it showed the development of the Gucci logo throughout the years.

Gucci Museum - Florence, Italy

The other two floors consisted of various handbags, scarves, accessories, and gorgeous gowns worn by celebrities for various occasions.  I have a very limited selection of photos due to the "no foto" rule - I tried to be as sneaky as possible in order to share this experience with all of you.  This museum definitely gave me a new found appreciation for Gucci as a fashion designer - someone who worked extremely hard for his successes and was able to create a world renown luxury brand as a result of his dedication and support from his family and loved ones.

Additionally, I visited the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum.  It is very easy to miss, as it is below the Florence flagship store and doesn't have it's own sign - luckily our art history professor told us about it!  Similar to the Gucci museum, it was very small but filled with incredible pieces.  There weren't curators in Salvatore's museum, so it was much easier to take pictures.  The coolest part about this museum was realizing that each shoe told a story, and was truly a piece of art in Ferragamo's eyes.  His story is also incredible, which is told in a 15 minute silent film called "White Shoe" that was played inside the museum.

Salvatore Ferragamo Museum - Florence, Italy

I'm so glad that I was able to experience some first-hand pieces of high-end Italian fashion designers.  Being able to see these pieces in Italy is a whole experience that makes you feel as though you are sharing a part of their story and share a connection with them.  If any of you are able to get to Florence, I highly recommend visiting both museums!

Arrivaderci,
Adrienne