Italian luxury fashion brand, Gucci has just opened Gucci Garden inside the historic Palazzo della Mercanzia in Florence’s Piazza della Signoria on January 9, 2018 along with three-Michelin-star chef Massimo Bottura’s newest restaurant at the long-awaited Gucci Garden museum. Conceived by Creative Director Alessandro Michele, The Gucci Garden also consist of one-of-a-kind items and exhibition spaces curated by the critic and curator Maria Luisa Frisa.

Gucci Garden Boutique

Gucci has conceptualised the conventional museum with roots dating back to 1337 and reimagined it as a living, collaborative and creative space to express the Maison’s evolving aesthetic and philosophy.

Designed by Gucci Creative Director Alessandro Michele, the name Gucci Garden is chosen to front the fashion boutique as Gucci has always been very much into the exploration of the eclectic creativity and as part of what gives a metaphysical meaning to the natural world of plants, flowers and animals. These motifs have been part of the Gucci narrative since its inception.

“The garden is real, but it belongs above all to the mind, populated with plants and animals: like the snake, which slips in everywhere, and in a sense, symbolises a perpetual beginning and a perpetual return.” – Alessandro Michele, Creative Director of The Gucci Garden.

The house curated an array of fashion pieces from collections dating back to the House’s Florentine origins in 1921, and to celebrate its rich archive, The Gucci Garden captured the general trend from the recent work, memorabilia, ephemera and contemporary art, to bring about a more lively and interactive experience for visitors.

Gucci Garden Galleria Rooms

Over at the Gucci Garden Galleria Rooms, the exhibits span over two floors; instead of housing a permanent collection of historic pieces, the Gucci Garden presents clothing, accessories, video installations, artworks, documents and artefacts organised by themes that tells the story of the House by blending the past with present.

Artists such as Jayde Fish, Trevor Andrew (AKA GucciGhost) and Coco Capitán have been invited to decorate the walls, and their works sit alongside Gucci fabric patterned wallpaper and a giant nineteenth-century equestrian oil portrait, Fantino con bambina, by Domenico Induno.

On the ground floor of Gucci Garden, the space is helmed by Massimo Bottura where visitors can head down to the restaurant and tuck into delectable dishes after perusing the exhibits.

There’s also a bazaar-like retail space offering one-of-a-kind products and packaging that are exclusive to this store, including shoes and bags in special materials, brocade skirts and coats, other unique pieces such as silk bomber jackets that feature the Gucci Garden Gothic script, are not on sale in any other Gucci stores.

Also, visitors to the city of Florence can luxuriate at the Gucci Garden and revel in the House’s history of lovely hand-work and craftsmanship as well as the artisanship that echoes the palazzo’s mercantile origins.

Entrance to the Gucci Garden Galleria is €8, half of which will go towards helping restoration projects in Florence.

Words by Andrea Sim.