Located in the Palazzo della Mercanzia (which has existed since 1337), the Gucci Museum shares not only the history of the brand, but also the cultural heritage of the city. This notion of preservation is evident not only in the guild crests along its exterior wall, but also in frescoes and pieces of sculpture that have been encased in plexiglass behind various parts of the exhibit. To further this point, 50% of the private museum's six euro entry fee goes to the restoration of historical monuments in Florence.
The exterior. Note the crests above the first row of windows!
Just upon walking in you are transported to a world of chic and clean-lined glamour. The predominantly black and white space channels everything that makes us love movies like The Devil Wears Prada. But here we're talking Gucci, and even the diamond print on the walls will let you know it.
There's actually a very cool 46 second video on the Gucci Museum page that shows them putting the space together before its September 2011 opening.
The museum is divided into six sections, starting with travel, which is what the company was originally known for. It discusses the branding of the company, how the travel and toiletry cases evolved, the red and green racing stripe, and other things. In fact, this "Travel" section, is so devoted to its topic that there's even a Gucci car here.
Each section had a card with background information on the topic the room was choosing to explore!
Notice the nice little paragraphs!
Other sections included lifestyle, logomania, evening, sport, handbags, flora, and precious. The "evening" section was breathtaking with red carpet gowns worn by the likes of Kate Beckinsale and Hilary Swank. The lifestyle section even had two Gucci surfboards (now those are something I'd like to see people actually use).
As I entered the flora section, dedicated to the iconic pattern and Grace Kelly, one of the many workers decided to talk to me. For a while, I had been annoyed as they consistently shadow the visitor in a somewhat suspicious way, taking away from my enjoyment at taking in the museum (mind you, I was only staring through glass cases and reading labels). However, this woman was very nice and attempted to tell me about what I was seeing (bamboo handled bags, the print, the use of raffia, etc.). The one problem was that she did not speak English. Through pointing and my broken Italian, I somehow managed to understand most of what she told me though. Pretty cool.
While the museum is mainly dedicated to the brand, it also contains a contemporary art exhibit, a café, a bookstore, and a library. The contemporary art exhibit is funded by Francois Pinault (of PPR/The Gucci Group). When I went, it was showing three works by Paul Fryer. One of Ophelia in her drowning moment (entitled Ophelia), one of a black egg floating above of a crown of thorns (entitled Ecce Homo), and one of Jesus in an electrical chair (Pietà). The space itself was very creepy with the pieces iridescently lit. My one complaint is that you can't walk around them even though they're not against the walls. It hinders completely viewing the artwork.
Inside the café space.
They have indoor and outdoor seating! I feel like whenever I need a dose of chic, I'll be coming here.
After my museum trip I did not want to leave the space and the world of Gucci, so I stuck around and explored the bookstore, café, and library. The bookstore sells some Gucci Museo merchandise, but mostly art/fashion/architecture/film books. The library offers complimentary iPad use and access to all of its books. They don't mind if you just sit in there and read. The café has outdoor and indoor seating, but I decided to stand at the bar and have a cappuccino with whipped cream. Now that's what I call a good way to start the day.
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