Florence is the city of art, the cradle of the Renaissance, and it remains packed with artists to this day. But ever since the Medici family, who commissioned and patronized nearly all of the most famous art, artists, and architects in the city’s history, it has also been a place associated with craftspeople. Still today, makers often work in tiny botteghe (workshops), whittling, carving, weaving or hand decorating unique objects. These skills are still venerated and practiced today, which means the city abounds with shopping opportunities.
Meandering the narrow cobbled streets of Florence to find its best ateliers and showrooms is a singular pleasure. Many of these traditional workshops—centuries old—are owned and maintained by descendants of the original founders, making the history of Florence’s shops almost as intriguing and valuable as their products. To see how the very silks worn by many of the subjects in the paintings in the Uffizi were and still are woven, to buy Florence’s famous marbleized paper from an artist whose family has been hand-decorating for two hundred years, or to watch as a leather maker fashions a bag for you with leather treated with the same techniques as they would have used during the Renaissance is a special experience.
As with many things in Florence, the shopping here is on a grand scale. Here’s where to treasure hunt for fashion, homegoods, leather, paper products, and silk.
FASHION:
Gioia Bini
When Gioia Bini, a young and charismatic woman-about-town realised how much luxury fabric was going to waste in the process of dressmaking at the leading fashion houses, she came up with the idea of buying the off-cuts and creating her own dresses from the upcycled materials. You would never know it from the glamorous results—her lines are hand-stitched in Tuscany and timeless collections in a range of sumptuous linen and silk colours. Visit her private showroom in her family’s palazzo on the Arno in the fashionable San Niccolo area.
Lungarno Serristori 9 - By Appointment only
Loretta Caponi
The labyrinthine atelier of Loretta Caponi is located just off Florence’s grandest shopping street, Via Tornabuoni. Now run by Loretta’s daughter and grandson, the store has racks crammed with fabulous embroidered dresses and nightgowns made of the highest quality cotton and silk, all hand-sewn by a team of on-site seamstresses. The service is wonderfully old fashioned and attentive, with same-day consultations and next-day alterations a priority.
Via delle Belle Donne, 28/r
Stefano Bemer
Stefano Bemer founded his bottega in 1983 with the modest goal of creating ‘the perfect Italian shoe’. Over the past forty years, his name has become synonymous with the highest quality men’s shoes, known for their elegant designs, meticulous construction, and durability. Famed as the man who taught Daniel Day-Lewis to cobble in the mid 90s, Stefano passed away in 2012, but his legacy carries on under the stewardship of Tommaso Melani, owner of bespoke tailoring brand Sartoria Vestrucci: His championing of fine Italian craftsmanship has led him to bring both brands together in one showroom in San Niccolo, which also includes a selection of menswear. The shop includes open workbenches where the staff services and builds leather shoes.
Via San Niccolo 2
LEATHER, PAPER, and SILK:
Giulio Giannini e Figlio
A favourite of the many paper shops in Florence since 1856, Giannini has some of the most intricate and sought-after hand-decorated, marbleized papers and leather-bound notebooks in the city. The family have been upholding the tradition of Florentine decoration for almost two centuries, with Maria Giannini—who is the sixth generation of her family to carry on these skills—now at its helm. She makes great use of their extensive historical archive reviving designs and colour combinations from the company’s past.
Piazza de' Pitti, 37R
Antico Setificio
Think of the dresses worn by the subject of any Bronzino painting and you will get a good idea of the made-to-measure silks that are produced every day at the Antico Setificio. Using looms dating back to the 18th century, each one operated by a woman, the shop produces just 40-80cm of fabric in a day, and the embroidered embellishments are laid out by a unique warper designed by Leonardo Da Vinci. Beyond the workshop is the store, where you can buy these hand woven silks by the meter, as well as silk cushions, tassels and potpourri bags.
Via Lorenzo Bartolini, 4
