Shopping tour: Fabrics

Hello everyone and welcome to the ‘Venice Shopping Tour’ section of Venezia.net.

Cinzia Fassetta, our Personal Shopper, will accompany you every month through the maze of ‘calli’ and little streets and suggest an itinerary to get to know the most precious, the most special and unmissable shops in Venice.

 

In this first January 2006 issue we’re talking about:

 

FABRICS

 

Think about Venice and its long history.. think about precious silks coming to the city along the Eastern Route.. Think Marco Polo.. and then the riches and luxury of the ‘Serenissima’ Republic, the Doges’ precious clothes, the Venetian ladies and courtesans..

There has always been an intimate relationship between precious fabrics and the city of Venice.

 

Still nowadays there are places, factories, ateliers or shopsin Venice – sometimes well hidden, sometimes well displayed inside ancient homes or palaces – where precious fabrics are made or old. Fabrics we can find everywhere: in luxurious homes or hotels, historical buildings, important and famous theatres, churches all over the world.

 

Damasks, brocades, printed cotton and silks still made with the very same techniques used centuries ago can be see, admired (and bought!) in Venice nowadays.

 

In the San Marco area, for instance, Palazzo Corner Spinelli hosts the showroom of Rubelli, a company founded in 1858.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Always in the San Marco area, the atelier of Tessitura Bevilacqua offers a collection of ancient and precious fabrics which date back to several centuries ago.

 

 

Nowadays the ‘Scuole’ (‘Schools, actually associations which had been founded to help the poorer and teach young people arts and crafts) still remind us of the many Venetian traditions related to fabrics and fashion: the ‘Scuola dei Sartori’ (tailors), ‘Scuola degli Albanesi for those in the wool trade, ‘Scuola dei Laneri’ (those who used to make wool), ‘Scuola dei tessitori’ (those who used to weave fabrics) and many more can be found all over the city.

 

 

 

On the Giudecca island don’t miss ‘Tessitura Fortuny’. There’s a showroom where a lovely lady will talk to you about their multi-coloured cotton printed fabrics which are still made using the old techniques and weaving machines created by the artist Mariano Fortuny.

You can also visit the Museo Fortuny in town as well as the ‘Museo del Costume’ in Palazzo Mocenigo.

 

So, what do you think of this itinerary of history and tradition through the shops of Venice?

 

Don’t miss our next itinerary in February!

 

If you’re interested in getting more information about the shops mentioned or other fabric shops in Venice or in a personalized shopping itinerary in Venice and surroundings, contact Cinzia Fassetta, our Personal Shopper, at

shopping@styleandshop.com