Love Affairs in Melbourne-Chapter 183 - 180: Brand Museum

Yan Yan gave the house her cousin had arranged for her a score of 99.9. The missing 0.1 was because Yan Yan still did not know the location of the Strozzi Palace or the distance to the museum she most wanted to visit and planned to frequent.

Usually, when people arrive in Florence, the Italian city almost synonymous with the Renaissance, they first visit either one of the world’s five major cathedrals, the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, or the world-renowned Uffizi Gallery.

But Yan Yan was someone who never knew how to do things "usually." After settling in Florence, the first place she wanted to go was the Palazzo Spini Feroni.

This 13th-century fortress was bought by Salvatore Ferragamo in 1938 for 3.4 million lire.

Palazzo Spini Feroni had once been the headquarters of the Ferragamo brand. Since 1995, it had also housed the Ferragamo Museum, showcasing the brand’s developmental history.

After checking the map, Yan Yan quickly made up the missing 0.1.

If she were really scoring, Yan Yan would definitely give her new home 101 points.

Strozzi Palace was nowhere nearer than two minutes’ walk directly to the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum.

Initially, Yan Yan thought about studying the route thoroughly tomorrow before heading to the museum if it was too far, given she was unfamiliar with the area, but the proximity now removed any reason not to go immediately.

Luxury brand museums are not rare, nor do only Italian brands have them.

In France, there are two very famous brand museums established in the designer’s former homes.

The first is the LOUIS VUITTON museum in Asnieres, set up in the family’s former residence in the Paris suburbs.

The second is the Christian Dior museum set up in Monsieur Dior’s childhood home in Granville, eastern France.

Besides France, the Chanel brand museum in the United States is also unique and much talked about.

After a chance meeting between "the king of fashion," Karl Lagerfeld, and "the queen of architecture," Zaha Hadid, in a hotel lobby, they created something the world had never imagined nor seen before—the world’s first movable art museum, CHANEL Mobile Art Museum. (note 1)

Zaha Hadid designed the CHANEL museum. When it went global for exhibitions, it was not the exhibits inside that moved but the entire large building along with its contents.

After its "completion," the museum started in Hong Kong in 2008, went to Tokyo, and due to the aggressive subprime crisis, it ended up stationed in New York, failing to complete the last four legs of its global tour—Los Angeles, London, Moscow, and Paris.

In the realm of well-known luxury brands, Gucci, Valentino, and Hermès also have museums established at the brand’s place of origin.

Each brand museum has its uniqueness.

Valentino’s brand museum, set in the 17th-century castle of Domaine du Wildville in Paris, fills the interior with dazzling technological elements displaying the brand’s evolution. In addition to visual materials, there is a documentary about Valentino himself, "Valentino: The Last Emperor."

Hermès’ museum is the most private, housing many art collections owned by the Hermès family that are not necessarily directly related to the brand, showing much of the third generation’s personal collection of horse culture and paintings.

The LV museum is the most private, not open to the public. Louis Vuitton museum visits can only be arranged under three circumstances: the first, also the most straightforward approach, is by becoming a VIP customer of the brand; the second, fashion media personnel; and the last, by becoming an employee of LOUIS VUITTON.

Salvatore Ferragamo Museum is a publicly accessible museum.

Compared to other luxury brand museums, the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum showcases the richest brand content.

Not only does it introduce the story behind each displayed shoe, but it also explains the sources of design inspiration.

Many tourists to Italy have said that the staff at Italian museums are arrogant, unfriendly, and unapproachable.

Of course, this includes the staff at the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum.

This observation fairly reflects reality.

But, if calculated seriously, this isn’t a museum issue, it is inherently due to Italians being very proud or having a strong sense of pride.

Based on this reason, many Italians simply "scorn" using English.

In Florence, even the sole three-star Michelin restaurant here exhibits the same pride.

The waiters are gentlemanly enough, but their smiles are minimal, never overly enthusiastic, nor genuinely heartfelt.

Expecting Italians to serve with bowing heads like the Japanese or Thai is simply impossible.

Yan Yan came to Italy intending to pay homage to the Shoe Kingdom, so instead of indulging her foodie nature at a three-star restaurant, her first stop upon leaving home was the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum.

Firstly, Yan Yan hadn’t reserved a spot at the three-star restaurant.

Secondly, while it’s not unheard of nor shocking for someone to dine alone at a candlelit dinner in a three-star restaurant, Yan Yan had no interest in such experiences.

Sitting there alone, chatting with a waiter for three hours without knowing whether their English is fluent or if they are even willing to chat, seemed quite absurd to contemplate.

Yan Yan had long decided, with so many friends promising to visit her in Italy, and Florence having only one three-star Michelin restaurant, it was best to save it for the time "when friends come from afar."

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Note 1:

Zaha Hadid, a genius architect born in Baghdad, Iraq, was the first woman to win the "Nobel Prize in Architecture"—The Pritzker Architecture Prize and the highest award in British architecture, the Royal Gold Medal.

Last year (2016), Zaha Hadid passed away from a heart attack, leaving behind ten works in China including the Guangzhou Grand Theater and the Nanjing Youth Olympic Center.