Creative Director Alessandro Michele’s work for Italian luxury house Gucci refuses to leave the headlines. The latest news from the fashion brand is the renovation of their Florence-based gallery-style museum.
The space, located at the 14th century Palazzo della Mercanzia since its initial opening in 2011, has been renamed ‘Gucci Garden’ and its renewed inauguration coincides the ongoing men’s trade fair Pitti Uomo.
The museum was a brainchild of Michele’s predecessor Frida Giannini but its medieval appearance moulds perfectly with Michele’s Gucci aesthetic as well.
The refurbished space is a class in experiential retail from the mega brand. It will showcase an exclusive ready-to-wear (RTW) assortment, accessories and special ephemeral items like stationery or candles that will not just act as décor but also be sold under the Gucci Garden label.
Additionally, the earlier Gucci café will be replaced by a full-fledged dining space or ‘Osteria’ to be headed by the Modena-based three-star Michelin chef, Massimo Bottura. Bottura is a close friend of Gucci’s President and CEO Marco Bizzari and has created a menu of classic Italian dishes reinterpreted with a global influence palette.
In an era of brick and mortar’s demise, only Gucci can create a store where a shopper has to pay before s/he even decides to shop. While the ground floor and restaurant are open for free viewing to every guest, the galleria charges 8 euros for anyone interested in seeing archives on the first and second floor.
Explaining the bazaar upgrade of the space, Michele added, “It’s a museum that is not a museum. It’s a magical, almost mythical place, and it’s in Florence, which plays such a powerful role for this brand. It invites you to enter.”
Even the archival floors curated first by Maria Luisa Frisa have received an update on the new chief’s direction. Following a theme of ‘nature’, the two floors divided under six rooms adorn Gucci’s history about everything from its beginning as a leather manufacturer of bags and accessories in Florence, the manic GG ‘Guccification’, their endless foliage obsession, to its millennial-loved collaboration rich style del Giorno.
