sur la terre gourmet travel
49
< The Ponte Vecchio from above with the Vasari Corridor >
Florentine Fashionistas Back to our coffee and stylishly coiffured trio of ladies, we finish up our last Biscotti and drain our cup as they go, laughing and clip-clopping past. It is unsurprising that these Florentine sirens take great pride, like most Italians, in the way they turn out in public. The city is, historically, the first home of Italian fashion. Since the early 1950s, when Giovanni Battista Giorgini established the Italian school, a fashion principle to compete with French haute couture, the city has since become home to the legendary Italian fashion establishment Salvatore Ferragamo, notable as one of the oldest and most famous Italian fashion houses.
< La Piazza della signoria >
< The entrance hall to the Grand Hotel is a work of art in itself >
Many others, most of them now located in Milan, were founded in Florence. You will find all of the stellar names of Italian fashion domiciled in the city, with Gucci, Prada and Roberto Cavalli running large offices and stores in Florence or its outskirts. Florence’s main upscale shopping street is Via de’ Tornabuoni, where just about every major luxury fashion house and jewellery label from Chanel, Armani, Ferragamo and Bulgari, have their elegant boutiques and ply their trade on this very real street of dreams. To really immerse yourself in the luxury and culture that Florence has to offer, live like a patrician during your stay. The Grand Hotel was once the formal residence of, among others, the aforementioned Medici family, which as we know, ran the city as an vindependent state for more than three centuries and played a major part in the birth of the Renaissance. Located on Piazza Ognissanti overlooking the river Arno, the hotel stands in the heart of the the historic centre of the city and just walking distance from the most famous works of art and the Via de’ Tornabuoni. The hotel’s design encapsulates the typical elements of Renaissance Florentine Architecture, with fine decor, precious marble and stained glass, and is the perfect place to rest your head when the Stendhal syndrome hits.