Today fashion focused on two Florentine fashion houses–Ferragamo and Gucci–both of which have museums in Florence. We started our day at the Ferragamo Museum at Palazzo Spini Feroni. Immediately dazzled by the shoes decorating the walls of the entryway from floor to ceiling, we first discussed the history of Ferragamo before we spent some time exploring the depths of this quirky museum space. Each student selected one pair of shoes from the wall and styled an outfit for a person of their choosing based off of this inspiring footwear.

After lunch, we headed to Piazza della Signoria to check out the Gucci Museum. Situated in an old palazzo, this museum mixes the international luxury brand’s goods with contemporary art and lifestyle products. After discussing the history of the house of Gucci, we each explored the museum on our own and selected one item from the collection that spoke to us as the epitome of luxury. We all then presented our selections to the rest of the group.

We finished our day with a visit to Roberto Cavalli’s Caffe Giacosa to soak up a little bit of Florentine fashion flair while recapping all we had seen during the day. Over cappuccino and piccole torte we discussed the differences between the two museums’ missions, their relationship to the art world, as well as their interest in a continued dialogue with Italian history.

Fashion students have seen and done a lot over the last two weeks! Tomorrow is our final day in Florence. We will finish up our final projects–inspiration boards based off Italian historical figures or works of art–and install them in the final group gallery show. After having a last celebratory lunch all together we’ll head into Florence to see the costume gallery within the beautiful Boboli Gardens on the far side of the Arno river.

It’s been a pleasure studying with these ladies for the past few weeks!

-Alex