A Visit to the Gucci Museum

No stay in Florence is complete with visits to the Gucci and Ferragamo museums and so last Wednesday we decided to visit the Gucci Museum located right on the Piazza della Signoria near the Palazzo Vecchio. This piazza is usually so crowded with tourists that it is difficult to move around but we are still a bit pre-season and so it was easy to stroll.

The museum is in a lovely palazzo being restored by Gucci so unfortunately the facade was covered in scaffolding. The interior was rather stark but it did house the museum, a bookstore on fashion, and a pleasant cafe.

Guccio Gucci worked as an elevator boy at the Savoy Hotel in London where he observed the elegance of the upper crust of society at the turn of the 20th century. On his return to Italy, in 1921 Gucci opened a workshop specializing in the production of luggage and accessories.

 From the start he had an international vision and so inscribed his trunks and luggage G. Gucci, Articles for Travel, Florence, defining the brand in English.

From trunks, luggage, and accessories he branched out to fine handbags and introduced the double G symbols and fabric patterns that became the house signature. 

These designs were even incorporated into a Gucci Cadillac in the 1960s and picnic baskets!

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 And now the house of Gucci even designs evening gowns with exquisite detail worn by the stars. 

The Gucci Foundation has become a major contributor to the restoration of film and the museum includes a small theater that shows clips from the Italian and international films they have helped to restore.

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