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That’s where it came from! Fashion plus Crafts
[Susan Glasspool]
Craftwork in Florence is also closely linked with the great houses of fashion (and therefore Pitti Immagine), because they make use of the creative talents and manual skills of many fine local craftsmen to produce what we see worn at all the top fashion shows throughout the world. However there is another, equally fascinating craft world to be found in almost all the back streets and more popular areas of the city, well worth discovering during your stay here. Many of these botteghe or workshops are family-run whose centuries-old craft has been passed down from father to son, and usually only too pleased to show you their working processes.
The Oltrarno area, on the south bank of the river, is richest in crafts and craftsmen. Here you can find handmade, marbled or decorated paper (you can usually watch the marbling process), or hand embroidered lingerie and linens that are almost impossible to find elsewhere (perhaps in China!). You can get your shoes made to measure, a suit or dress tailored to fit you and, if there is enough material left over, some shoes made to match! Leather workers abound, and the choice of crafted handbags, purses, wallets, belts and other accessories, is infinite.
You can find expert metal workers who can make you anything from a bedstead to a doorbell, and if you want to have something made to to your own design, this is rarely a problem. You can have your name engraved on a plaque to place outside your home or find articles made with dried flowers, paintings, sculpture, including exquisitely made reproductions in bronze or marble of some of the most famous art works in the city. Look out for the beautiful silverware, another Florentine speciality, a real temptation and perfect for a gift to take home.
The Florentine mosaics and inlays are another ancient Florentine craft and certainly quite unique, decorating anything from a table top to jewellery. Again you can usually watch the working methods.
Search for a bargain in the antique shops and backstreet junk shops, almost anything can be restored in the Santo Spirito area.
Hunt for the new craftsmen. Young, bright-eyed with enthusiasm, they have set up minute workshops on a shoe-string and offer some really original handicrafts, many of them, but not all, based on the traditional methods of their forefathers. They should be encouraged.
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