As you'd expect, many of the
top-flight Italian designers
and fashion houses - Versace,
Missoni, Krizia, MaxMara,
Trussardi, Gucci, Armani,
Prada, Valentino and Dolce e
Gabbana (the only ones with
a local connection) - are
represented in Venice, most
of their outlets being
clustered within a street or
two of the Piazza. For those
with wallets as deep as oil
wells, the
Mercerie ,
Frezzeria ,
Calle
Goldoni ,
Calle
Vallaresso and
Calle
Larga XXII Marzo are the
most fruitful zones. The
best shops for a range of
high fashion are La Coupole
(Frezzeria and Calle Larga
XXII Marzo), Elysée (Frezzeria
and Calle Goldoni), Al Duca
d'Aosta (Merceria del
Capitello), and La Fenice (Calle
Larga XXII Marzo).
For more moderately
priced clothes, there's the
inevitable Benetton, Sisley
and Stefanel (all with
branches in the Mercerie),
and Coin, a national
department store based in
Venice. Coin's home branch
specializes in clothing, and
is located between the
Rialto and San Giovanni
Crisostomo. The area between
Campo San Bartolomeo and
Santi Apostoli is well
supplied with shops aimed at
a young clientele, as is the
line of streets running from
Ruga Vecchia San Giovanni
to San Polo , on the
other side of the Canal
Grande. None really stands
out from the crowd, though.
The Venetian taste in
clothes is pretty
conservative, but more
idiosyncratic stuff is sold
at Fiorella, on Campo S.
Stefano (San Marco), where
the wacky jackets are
beautifully made and wittily
displayed - the mannequins
have female bodies but their
faces are modelled on
portraits of the doges.
Venezia Studium - in
Calle XXII Marzo 2425 (San
Marco), Merceria S. Zulian
723 (San Marco) and Campo
dei Frari 3006 (San Polo) -
sells lamps, bags and
scarves in Fortuny-style
pleated velour and crepe.
For real Fortuny fabrics, go
to V. Trois, Campo S.
Maurizio 2666, where they
sell the luscious stuff
manufactured over on La
Giudecca, at L420,000 (?217)
per metre.
