Shopping at Gucci Garden

Gucci Garden
Piazza della Signoria 10
Florence, Italy
39 05 57 59 27 010

Two years ago, just after my birthday, we enjoyed the most magnificent lunch at Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura on our trip to Florence. Almost every moment of that trip was a highlight and yet the lunch still stands out. I mean, how often do you get the chance to eat off Gucci bloom print china plates? Ultimately, I hope that it won’t prove to have been a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me, but it’s possible that it will, which is why the memory of that day at Gucci Garden is so special.

Gucci Garden isn’t just the home of Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura, although the restaurant would be fabulous enough on its own. It’s an entire complex, right in the heart of Florence in the historic Palazzo della Mercanzia, dedicated to all things Gucci. On a recent scroll through my phone, I stumbled upon a treasure trove of photos from our whole experience there. And it quickly made me realise just how much there was, beyond lunch, that I never got around to sharing.

And because we could all use a little more fabulousness in our relatively drab lives at the moment, this seemed like the ideal time for these snapshots to make their debut.

I think we can all agree that when it comes to designer fashion, I am more Louis Vuitton than Gucci. But I still appreciate the beautiful Italian craftsmanship that goes into Gucci’s designs, particularly their leather goods. While the often wildly over-the-top colour and prints will never fit into my wardrobe, I could never argue that they aren’t imbued with their own unique je ne sais quoi. And that uniquely Gucci aesthetic was never captured more poignantly than by the designers of Gucci Garden. From vibrant yellow walls to blue velvet and pink lacquered display stands, every square centimetre of the space is on brand.

The store within Gucci Garden isn’t technically Gucci’s flagship store – that’s in Milan. But it’s so special that it offers a line of goods not sold in any other Gucci store in the world, some actually emblazoned with Gucci Garden labels. The array of Princetown mules and loafers in bold fabrics was breathtaking, even if not to my taste. (I confess: the eighteen-year-old version of me, the one who wore orange boots, would have coveted them all.) And don’t get me started on the housewares. It wouldn’t be realistic, and I would obviously tire of it quickly. But for a moment, while we were there, the idea of redecorating with Gucci seemed too good to pass up. (I still peruse Gucci’s selection of wallpapers fairly regularly.)

It still seems almost unbelievable that I walked out of the store without a bag in hand. In retrospect, I think I was so dazzled by the displays that actually making a purchase seemed secondary. The experience of walking among them was wonderfully overwhelming, almost dizzying. I felt like Alice walking into Wonderland for the first time. (And, admittedly, I found the crowd of American tourists trying on sweatshirt after sweatshirt, in some cases without even bothering to step into the fitting room, quite off-putting. You’ll see one of them snuck into one of my snapshots.) But sometimes, a visit to a store is about the experience, rather than what you buy. And my visit to the shop at Gucci Garden was like that.

…do I still wish I’d bought a demitasse cup and saucer with the iconic Gucci Herbarium print? Absolutely. So here’s hoping there’s a next time. But for now, I’ll hold onto these photos are my souvenir.