Ekaya’s CEO, Palak Shah, admits Gucci Garden was on her radar, ever since it débuted on the brand’s Instagram page. So that’s where she headed the day after she wrapped up her show at Project Cousu d’Or in Paris last week. “My first view of the Gucci Garden was from a café at the Piazza Della Signoria, in Florence,” says Shah. The millennial pink sign set against the backdrop of the beautiful piazza compelled her to head there immediately.
The Palazzo della Mercanzia, dating back to 1337, has been home to the Gucci Museo since 2011, and now hosts the combination of restaurant, museum and shop. The retail experiment consists of a ground floor, where guests can indulge in a range of Gucci accessories that can’t be found at any other location — or even online. Think a bazaar-like exhibition space where exclusives from the label include stationery, match boxes, canvas bags, music boxes and maps of Florence, as well as niche magazine titles.
“The absolute maximalist presentation, with its black-and-white floor tiles and vintage floral-patterned wallpapers leave you in no doubt of Gucci’s new identity,” says Shah, adding that she couldn’t help but click pictures of everything she saw, from the floral chairs to the store assistants in vintage gardener uniforms. The Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura, a 50-seat fine dining restaurant headed by three Michelin-starred chef Massimo Bottura, is where you can head to grab a bite amidst the sensory overload of the space.
On the floors above is the Gucci Garden Galleria, a series of themed rooms curated by fashion critic Maria Luisa Frisa, that are ticketed at €8 per head (half of the proceeds go to restoration projects in Florence). The Garden is an archive of the Italian maison’s rich heritage, juxtaposed with its modern interpretations. The rooms are a study in contrast — like Ephemera, filled with archival documents, next to Cinema da Camera, a red velvet-tented auditorium; Guccification, a room with vintage and modern renderings of the double-G logo alongside Cosmorama, dedicated to bags and luggage.
“The store is such a vivid visual experience that you are going to come back to these items again, just to be able to take back a little memory of the museum,” concludes Shah.
The changing room, with its spotlights and floral chairs, felt like a modern-day wonderland
The Gucci Garden sign, in millennial pink, against the walls of the historic Palazzo della Mercanzia
Florals have played a major part at Gucci since Vittorio Accornero was commissioned to create the Gucci Flora print in 1966
Me, in the Guccification room of the Galleria
From wolves and tigers to snakes and bees, animal iconography is a big inspiration for Gucci’s Alessandro Michele
I loved the pop of colour and motifs in the hangers displaying clothes