Nothing on the outside of Florence's Palazzo Settimanni hints at the treasures within. The plain, pale-yellow façade of this 15^th-century building has no logo. In the reception area, the skillfully renovated floral marquetry suggests only the age of the building and the good taste of its owners, but there are better clues in the patio, where glass-fronted cabinets display loafers adorned with golden horsebits, belts with the "GG" buckle, luggage with green-and-red striped straps, and bags with bamboo handles. These are the symbols of Gucci, the Florentine fashion house (and a subsidiary of the Kering group), which, with its €9.9 billion in revenue in 2023, ranks among the leaders in the luxury sector, giving it the freedom to think big.

This striking space is reserved for the brand's archives. Access is granted to Gucci employees, fashion students, fashion historians, top clients, and occasionally, the press. While all luxury brands have recognized the importance of preserving their archives, most have chosen to store them in anonymous warehouses (for security reasons) in suburban or rural areas where the rent per square meter is lower.

Gucci does have an annex near Florence, but over 40,000 pieces are kept in the very heart of the city. "When the Gucci family bought this palazzo in 1953, it was a leather workshop. They kept it that way until Tom Ford [Gucci's creative director at the time] turned it into a showroom in 1995. The showroom moved to the headquarters in Milan in 2015, so we decided to move the archives here to celebrate the brand's centenary in 2021," explained Gabriele Giorgini, the site's communications director.

The wooden-and-glass cabinets, and the artifacts displayed, tell the story of these different eras. The cabinet devoted to horsebit loafers gives the original 1953 model, classic and effective, pride of place at the center. Underneath it, the longer, pointed-toe version by Tom Ford evokes the strong, powerful and masculine aesthetic he celebrated in the 1990s. Above, the one in beige suede recalls the textile explorations of Frida Giannini, creative director from 2006 to 2015. Beside it, the fur-lined mule version evokes the baroque turn taken by Alessandro Michele, creative director from 2015 to 2022. The loafer by the current artistic director, Sabato de Sarno, can be identified by its thick platform sole.

The space's gigantic size, the attention to presentation and the variety of items on display might make one think oneself in a museum, but there are no explanatory labels (the archives aren’t meant to be visited without a guide), and there are handles for freely opening the display cases (it is strictly forbidden to touch the items without gloves).

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