In recent years it seems that the revaluation of fashion brands’ heritage through the opening of a museum is almost a natural step for the several fashion houses based in Florence, and the 86th edition of Pitti Uomo was the opportunity for discover the most precious core of the future Braccialini Museum.
 |
| Pitti 86 – Mostra Il Giardino Incantato di Braccialini – Museo Marino Marini |
Looking at the history of the Florentine museums dedicated to fashion brands, everything began with the exhibition of Salvatore Ferragamo at Palazzo Strozzi in 1985, which brought for the first time in Italy a view on the intense activity of the Campanian shoemaker and which led to the creation of today’s Salvatore Ferragamo Museum. Much later, in 2007, it was the turn of Roberto Capucci with the opening of his eponimous Foundation in Villa Bardini; then in 2011, the opening of the Gucci Museum, commissioned by the creative director Frida Giannini to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Florentine fashion house; and finally, in 2011, the biennial opening of Emilio Pucci’s archive in the Villa di Granaiolo (Castelfiorentino) thanks to the LVMH initiative of Les Journées Particulières.
In addition to these examples of museums opened to the public, we can also consider the other several private archives such as the accessories brand Braccialini that celebrated its sixty years of activity with an exhibition inside the Museo Marino Marini in Florence during the last edition of Pitti Uomo.
 |
| Pitti 86 – Mostra Il Giardino Incantato di Braccialini – Museo Marino Marini |
 |
| Pitti 86 – Mostra Il Giardino Incantato di Braccialini – Museo Marino Marini |
Jasmine hedges, rows of cypress trees and flowers of every kind filled the walls of the Marino Marini museum for four days, enveloping in a magical hug all the bags ranging from the opening of the Braccialini workshops in 1954 up to date. At last, with this exhibition curated by Alessandra Arezzi Boza, it was possible to discover the true beginnings of the brand, when Roberto Braccialini and his wife Carla made fine woven straw bags that would send into raptures even today’s fashionistas crowds.
All the imaginary worlds created by Carla Braccialini before the launch of the naive patchwork lines (now the symbol of the company in the world) come to life in the lovely path between trees and sculptures as in a secret garden of the nineteenth century.
Crocodile leather, squared shape, fan shape, bucket shape, gilded baroque applications, floral embroidery, straw weavings and bright colors bring to life in one fell swoop all the seasons of Italian fashion, without even needing to read the dates on the explanatory cards. You could easily imagine those bags at the arms of mothers or grandmothers in the 60s and the 80s, and sometimes from the audience you could heard enthusiastic expressions like “Oh look! I have that bag too!” or exclamations of amazement in front of the simple and minimal shapes, so unusual for Braccialini’s style of today.
 |
| Pitti 86 – Mostra Il Giardino Incantato di Bracciali – Museo Marino Marini |
 |
| Pitti 86 – Mostra Il Giardino Incantato di Braccialini – Museo Marino Marini |
 |
| Pitti 86 – Mostra Il Giardino Incantato di Braccialini – Museo Marino Marini |
 |
| Pitti 86 – Mostra Il Giardino Incantato di Braccialini – Museo Marino Marini |
 |
| Pitti 86 – Mostra Il Giardino Incantato di Braccialini – Museo Marino Marini |
 |
| Pitti 86 – Mostra Il Giardino Incantato di Braccialini – Museo Marino Marini |
 |
| Pitti 86 – Mostra Il Giardino Incantato di Braccialini – Museo Marino Marini |
 |
| Pitti 86 – Mostra Il Giardino Incantato di Braccialini – Museo Marino Marini |
 |
| Pitti 86 – Mostra Il Giardino Incantato di Braccialini – Museo Marino Marini |
 |
| Pitti 86 – Mostra Il Giardino Incantato di Braccialini – Museo Marino Marini |
 |
| Pitti 86 – Mostra Il Giardino Incantato di Braccialini – Museo Marino Marini |
 |
| Pitti 86 – Mostra Il Giardino Incantato di Braccialini – Museo Marino Marini |
 |
| Pitti 86 – Mostra Il Giardino Incantato di Braccialini – Museo Marino Marini |
 |
| Pitti 86 – Mostra Il Giardino Incantato di Braccialini – Museo Marino Marini |
While we wait for the official opening of the Braccialini Museum in the company headquarters in Scandicci, we can (re)discover all these treasures leafing through the book “Le borse delle meraviglie” curated by Fabiana Giacomotti and published by Skira, that covers all the stages of the history of the brand.
Alessandro Masetti – The Fashion Commentator
Ho semplicemente adorato questa mostra! I capolavori del brand erano perfettamente esaltati dalla scenografia che era stata costruita! Il Museo Marini appariva completamente diverso dal normale, era un vero giardino incanto, di quelli che si vedono nei film!!
XOXO
Cami
Paillettes&Champagne
io preferisco le borse dagli anni ’60 ai ’90 piuttosto che le ultime
Confesso: sono tra quelle che sono rimaste colpite dalla semplicità e sobrietà di alcuni pezzi d’archivio. Non a caso le mie preferite sono quelle degli anni ’60! Un amore.
Location da sogno, nemmeno a dirlo..suggestiva ed impeccabile. Braccialini si sta muovendo molto in questa direzione da un po’ di tempo e per me è una scelta più che azzeccata!
bacio Greta
http://www.inmodaveritas.com