Let’s play a little game of word association. Italian food. Are you thinking of slurping velvety tagliatelle noodles smothered in Pomodoro sauce? Next phrase: Italian fashion. Does a little city called Milan come to mind? Haute Couture brands are infamous for lining the streets of Milan, but one brand is taking a step to spread style across Italy and into Florence, Gucci.
From the outside, Gucci Garden is an inconspicuous beige building within the historic Palazzo della Mercanzia. It is marked with a single vertically hung bubblegum pink banner that reads “Gucci Garden,” giving curious eyes a glimpse of the exclusive fashion house that lies within.
Gucci Garden opened in Florence, Italy in January of 2018. Gucci’s creative director, Alessandro Michele, has pushed the boundaries of Haute Couture by creating a three-story experience that boasts museum-style showrooms with vintage Gucci items, a souvenir shop and a restaurant complete with outdoor seating for 50 hungry fashion lovers.
Each room of the Gucci Garden experience represents the brand’s iconic relationship with animals and nature. According to Harper’s Bazaar, the concept of the Garden is completely “…organized by design theme, rather than when they were introduced.”
Upon walking into Gucci Garden there is an intense chic yet safari-like aura coursing through the air. Perhaps it’s because of the guard standing at the door, the woven Indian-inspired rug on the floor or the workers dressed in khaki colored Gucci coats and bottoms. At last, fashion has made its way into Florence.
The ground floor of the building hosts the Gucci bazaar and restaurant while the fashion showrooms start on the first floor. The fashion showroom costs eight euros for entry, but the fee is waived for students who provide a school ID.
You can navigate your way through this fashion fun-house by taking either the stairs or the elevator. Not only will they take you up the building, but they’re just as Instagram worthy as the articles of clothing on display. The stairs are plain white adorned with witty phrases in a scrawled, child-like font such as “If you’ve seen it all, close your eyes.”
The first floor is filled with vintage Gucci pieces ranging from 1973-1978. Many pieces are on display without a partition between the visitor and the item of clothing. However, other pieces are displayed in clear glass boxes with sleek matte black frames. The high ceilings and color palette give the room a modern feel that’ll make you forget you’re in Florence.
The first piece on display is a corseted mini-dress inspired by the 18th century. The detailed embroidery that envelops the dress paired with intricate beading that reads “Gucci” on the chest. This piece brilliantly mimics traditional silhouettes with an added twist of modern embellishments. In a city as historically rich for historical renaissance art, I could think of no better place for this dress to be displayed.
The silvery fabric beneath the turquoise lace has an iridescent, holographic shift to it which gives the garment a futuristic vibe.
After working your way through the first floor of Gucci Garden, you’re prepped to enter the second floor, which focuses on the brand’s relationship with nature. This section is filled with brightly colored hues of mink fur, with skins and scales from a handful of exotic animals created by mother nature.
Alexi, a Gucci Garden museum worker, spends a few hours each day rotating between the different sections of the building. Today, she was working in the nature section.
I looked closely at the technicolor snakeskin coat with patterns and designs swirling around the garment. I asked Alexi which type of snakeskin was used for the garment and she quickly picked up the pastel pink place card next to the garment to confirm the breed of snake.
“It’s mostly Burmese python, Gucci uses the highest quality skin possible. I wish they didn’t though,” said Alexi.
After further prompting, I discovered that Alexi is vegan for ethical reasons, and meant that Gucci’s decision to use animals for fashion wasn’t something she was proud to be associated with.
I remembered reading an article from Vogue earlier this year that announced Gucci’s commitment to going fur-free. This shift from fur-filled to fur-free meant that once their existing supply of fur products ran out, they would only be creating garments from synthetic hair.
After discussing the use of animals in fashion with Alexi, one statement stood out to me the most.
“It’s not necessary to fight with nature to create something beautiful,” she said while pointing to her favorite garment; a silk printed white gown embroidered with images of lotus flowers, koi fish and a peacock.
Gucci is not the only brand deciding to take the plunge into fur free clothing. According to Elle.com, Versace, Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo and DKNY among others are happy to stop the age-old tradition of using animals for fashion.
According to 1843 magazine, when Donatella Versace was asked about using fur in fashion, her response was “Fur? I am out of that. I don’t want to kill animals to make fashion. It doesn’t feel right.”
As a fashion lover, I can respect Gucci’s decision to display vintage pieces of clothing that use animal products, because it pays tribute to the animals that were used. In doing so, Gucci is also holding itself accountable for its actions by acknowledging that times change, and fur-free is a sign that ethical fashion is on trend.
Not only does Gucci pay tribute to animals in the nature section of the museum by displaying their past works, but there is also a 3D visual experience on the walls of the second floor of the showroom that shows a video of animals in their natural habitats. In this way, Gucci pays tribute to the animals they admire in a humane and educational way.
I was initially surprised to find out that a haute couture brand like Gucci had nestled itself in a Florentine piazza, but was even more surprised to find that their museum was nothing like I expected. I arrived at the Gucci Garden ready to explore the world of fashion and left feeling stunned at the intensity at which Gucci is inspired by nature.
Their decision to create a space that transports visitors from the closets of the wealthy people of the 1970s to the natural habitats of animals that inspires their pieces was genuinely educational and valuable to me.
Not only does Gucci earn my highest regard for spreading fashion to Florence, but their decision to go fur-free in 2018 is a true testament to the brand’s new identity as an environmentally conscious and humane fashion label.
Gucci Garden is the perfect place to ponder historical fashion after eating a delicious bowl of tagliatelle Pomodoro.