Aylie Lonmon
111 Shops in Milan That You Must Not Miss 111
Bibliographical Information of the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographical data are available on the internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de
© Emons Verlag GmbH All rights reserved Design: TIZIAN BOOKS, based on a design by Lübbeke / Naumann / Thoben All photos © Aylie Lonmon except: Bottega Cecé Casile (© Federico Guarino, p. 37), Cacao-lab (p. 45), Maura Coscia (p. 145) , Raimondo Garau (p. 179), Tortatelier (p. 215 ), Zeus (p. 231) English translation: Alan Gentile Edited by Katrina Fried Typesetting and digital processing: Gerd Wiechcinski Maps / Cartography: altancicek.design, www.altancicek.de Maps based on data by Openstreetmap, © Openstreet Map-participants, ODbL Printing and binding: B.O.S.S Druck und Medien GmbH, Goch Printed in Germany 2015 ISBN 978-3-95451-637-7 Did you enjoy it? Do you want more? Join us in uncovering new places around the world on: www.111places.com
Foreword Milan’s growing waves of visitors descend upon Italy’s fashion and financial capital not only with business on their minds, but also in search of the city’s true character, especially through paths hidden away from the tourist mainstream. For decades, the city grew in breadth, and now more recently in height: a high-rise district known as Bosco Verticale (“Vertical Forest”) has been erected between the classical Porta Garibaldi and the working-class Isola neighborhood. Past and present meet each other everywhere – even in the world of shopping. Hypermodern, glossily styled luxury stores attract fashion lovers from around the world. But there are also boutiques and stores that exist where time stands still. The city officially awards the title of “historical shop” to those establishments that have been family-owned for more than 50 years, have sold the same products since their founding, and have maintained their original antique furnishings. In this way, Milan hopes to preserve generations of knowledge and skill. Unfortunately, many newly opened shops must close due to high rents and competition from aggressive chains. Despite these challenges, however, newcomers repeatedly dare to take the leap: academics and salaried employees become entrepreneurs and start a second life with a new mission. Many establish concept stores, because a wide selection promises greater sales opportunities. This guide will introduce you to diverse neighborhoods with very different personalities, often off the beaten track, such as the Cinque Vie, the center of the Roman settlement of Mediolanum, where designers, craftsmen, and artists have settled; and the romantic courtyards of the Navigli district. The love of many of those who have quit the rat race applies not only to “Slow Food” but also to “Slow Manufacturing.” Discover the speed, and also the slowness, of this fascinating city.
111 Shops 1__ “00” Giò Fornaio del Corso A new life for old grains | 10
2__ Al Pascià
For the discerning pipe smoker | 12
3__ Altai
Carpet art | 14
4__ Altalen
Artistic toppers | 16
5__ AMP
If the shoe fits | 18
6__ Antik Arte e Scienza
Mechanical jewels | 20
7__ Arte del Ricevere
Your cup of tea | 22
8__ Artisanal
Symbols of male elegance | 24
9__ Atelier Yooj
Stitching stories | 26
10__ Beretti Antiquaria We sell dreams | 28
11__ Bloodbuster
Nirvana for B movie buffs | 30
12__ Bollettini
The flower whisperers | 32
13__ Borghi
A hat fit for a queen | 34
14__ Bottega Cecé Casile
One frame at a time | 36
15__ La Bottega Discantica
The universal language of music | 38
16__ Brandstorming
The poetry of upcycling | 40
17__ Brunori
Exciting writing | 42
18__ Cacao-lab
Chocolate from head to toe | 44
19__ Campagnoli
The rosticceria | 46
20__ Carati Ambrogio
Back to the Bronze Age | 48
21__ Caterina von Weiss Poetry in clay | 50
22__ Chicche di Calze All the rage | 52
23__ Co Co
An outfit for every occasion | 54
24__ Colomba Leddi
Printed clothing | 56
25__ Il Cordaio
Tying up loose ends | 58
26__ Le Cornici del Chiossetto
The frame makes the art | 60
27__ Cosediunaltromondo
Little houses for big people | 62
28__ Costanza Algranti
Shaped by wind, sea, and sun | 64
29__ Crespi Bonsai
The world in miniature | 66
30__ Demaldè
For dandies and divas | 68
31__ Ditta Cesare Crespi
Winston Churchill was here | 70
32__ Drogheria Brambilla To each his treat | 72
33__ E-Mark
Where you can be a kid again | 74
34__ Emiliana Tortellini
Fulfilling fillings | 76
35__ Eral 55
A man’s world | 78
36__ Era L’Ora
Once upon a time | 80
37__ Erboristeria Novetti
The herbal pharmacy | 82
38__ Ferramenta Pietro Viganò Nuts and bolts | 84
39__ Fiori e Piante di Vito Fanizza Flower therapy | 86
40__ Fontana & Fontana Pasticceria Salty and sweet | 88
41__ Foto Veneta Ottica
One spectacle ahead of the rest | 90
42__ Fumagalli & Dossi Gipsoteca The masters of plaster | 92
43__ Funky Table
Every plate tells a story | 94
44__ Galleria L’Affiche
The art of discovery | 96
45__ Gay Odin
A century of chocolate | 98
46__ Il Gelato Ecologico
Healthy ice cream? | 100
47__ Giochi dei Grandi
The magician’s domain | 102
48__ Giovanni Galli
A century of sweets | 104
49__ GoGobags
Always in style | 106
50__ Guenzati
A taste of tartan | 108
51__ Guffanti
One step ahead | 110
52__ Hodeidah
All about the bean | 112
53__ Imarika
Psst, spread the word… | 114
54__ Individuals
From trousers to lingerie | 116
55__ Jacaranda Liuteria Artigiana
Bass guitars and ukuleles | 118
56__ Julia de Lucca Liuteria The violin doctor | 120
57__ Kathay
Milan’s Silk Road | 122
58__ Kitchen
The tools make the chef | 124
59__ Labcorsosangottardo3
Backyard aesthetics | 126
60__ Laboratorio Paravicini
Bespoke dinnerware | 128
61__ Laura e Sara Morandotti
Like mother, like daughter | 130
62__ Laura Urbinati
If the suit fits … | 132
63__ Lelefante con le ghette Three girlfriends | 134
64__ Lisa Corti
Immersed in color | 136
65__ Madame Pauline Vintage What’s old is new | 138
66__ Mariotti
From stamps to moths | 140
67__ Materia Vera
The green life | 142
68__ Maura Coscia
Bags that mirror the soul | 144
69__ Memèm
To each her own | 146
70__ Miracolo a Milano
The Tao of cheese | 148
71__ Mirna Cicli
Sailboats on the shore | 150
72__ Monica Castiglioni
Making something rich from something cheap | 152
73__ Moroni Gomma
Be it rubber or not | 154
74__ Natura Arte Gioco
Healthy games | 156
75__ New Old Camera
Used and improved | 158
76__ Nipper
Sounds of the past | 160
77__ NonostanteMarras
The fashion philosopher | 162
78__ Paper & People
Not your typical stationery store | 164
79__ Pèpè Children Shoes First steps | 166
80__ Pettinaroli
Printing since 1881 | 168
81__ Pistacchio e Dintorni Green diamonds | 170
82__ Porselli
On pointe | 172
83__ Preziosessenze
Harmonies of scent | 174
84__ Profumeria Vecchia Milano Follow your nose | 176
85__ Raimondo Garau
Every chair has a story | 178
86__ Ravels
Individually knit | 180
87__ Re della Baita
The cheese artist | 182
88__ Red Room
Self-made dreams | 184
89__ Ricordi & Balocchi
Collectors are rescuers of memories | 186
90__ Sacchi
Finger dressing | 188
91__ Salvatore + Marie
Island of aesthetes | 190
92__ Sartoria San Vittore
Seamstresses in stripes | 192
93__ Scarazzini
Sharps and shoes | 194
94__ Schiavio & Bolzani
Making it all mesh | 196
95__ Serendeepity
Vinyl and vintage | 198
96__ Shop Saman
Spending for a good cause | 200
97__ Silvestri
In the right light | 202
98__ SOTOW
Exceptional seating | 204
99__ Spazio Solari-Lunderskov
Partners in life and art | 206
100__ Studio Ceramica Guido de Zan Sculptural ceramics | 208
101__ Surimono
From tabi socks to tenugui | 210
102__ Tecnoelettrica Comoretto For love, not money | 212
103__ Tortatelier
Tailor-made cakes | 214
104__ Turi
A new life for your shoes | 216
105__ Urzì
Finding beauty in old bags | 218
106__ La Vecchia Cesteria
To each his basket | 220
107__ Vibram Fivefingers
The shoe that fits like a glove | 222
108__ Vino al Vino
Never judge a wine by its label | 224
109__ Yoga Shop
The color purple | 226
110__ Zagara
A taste of the south in the north | 228
111__ Zeus
A chair is a chair | 230
1__ “00” Giò Fornaio del Corso A new life for old grains
From outside, this bakery looks like any other, but inside, it’s not just the dough that’s fermenting but also a growing awareness. In the glass showcase along the counter lie cookies, cakes, pizzas, focaccia, and breadsticks, while in the baskets behind it are a variety of breads, including sourdough, which is rare in Italy. Giovanni Manzoni began studying alongside his uncle when he was 14 years old, and he opened his own bakery when he was 22. That was in 1993. From the beginning, he renounced lard, olive pomace oil, and additives. He prepares the dough for his bread, pizza, and focaccia a day ahead of time, and after it rests and develops, it is put into the oven without any so-called accelerators. A few years ago, a French baker friend gave Manzoni some sourdough as a gift. Initially, he baked just small quantities of bread for the store, then for private purchasing groups. An enthusiastic customer put him in contact with DESR – a project for the conservation and revitalization of agriculture in Parco Agricolo Sud, south of Milan. For two years now, Giò has gotten his flour from 11 types of old, organically grown grains directly from a mill in the Parco Sud. Twice a week he bakes bread and biscuits from this flour mixture. On the other days, there are whole meal, rye, or soy breads, also with a sourdough base. At first he made only a few loaves, but demand soon exploded. Meanwhile, Giò bakes for several food coops with his helpers: Ali from Mali and Sulymani from Afghanistan. In his shop, more and more people are requesting natural bread. His francesini, crusty white bread that comes fresh out of the oven every evening at six o’clock, is also very popular. At Christmas there is the traditional panettone, and at Easter the colomba – also made from the 11-grain flour and sourdough. Giovanni’s dream? To move back to his farm in the country and open his bakery there. 10
Address Corso San Gottardo 12, 20136 Milan, Tel +39/02/8322649, giofornaio@gmail.com | Getting there Tram 3 (Corso S. Gottardo/Via Lagrange), Tram 9 (Piazza Ventiquattro Maggio) | Hours Mon – Sat 7am – 7:30pm
2__ Al Pascià
For the discerning pipe smoker
In the late 1980s, the Sportellis took over this now more than 100-year-old pipe shop located in a 16th-century building on Via Torino. The couple’s two sons, Cosimo and Leonardo, grew up in the business and today manage it with their parents. From “beginner pipes” that cost just a few dollars to high-priced collectors’ pieces, Al Pascià’s assortment of pipes is extraordinary, and the Sportellis own exclusive distribution rights for many of the models. They come from small and large manufacturers all over the world. The shop even offers their own brand of pipes in France, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Italy, which combines Italian design with the traditions of other countries. Most pipes, whether made by hand or machine, are crafted from briar wood. This is the root wood of the Erica arborea, or European heath, which grows wild in Mediterranean regions. Al Pascià also stocks rolling machines, stands, lighters, ashtrays – all the accessories a pipe smoker could wish for except tobacco (which is a state monopoly in Italy). Al Pascià added leather goods to their offerings after a customer suggested they should make and sell cases and bags for tobacco and pipes. Demand grew quickly, and thus so has the variety of products, which include beautifully crafted leather billfolds, wallets, business card holders, key chains, purses, and briefcases. The pieces are manufactured by traditional craft shops in Tuscany. The two enterprising brothers have combined their age-old craft with ultra-modern marketing, creating a comprehensive, sophisticated website in English and Italian. In 2012, they launched the “Running Pipe Tour,” a kind of relay whereby a pipe is created in stages by a variety of quality artisans from Italy, France, Germany, and Denmark and then auctioned off on eBay to benefit the children’s charity Orphan Africa. 12
Address Via Torino 61, 20123 Milan, Tel +39/02/86450597, www.alpascia.com and www.alpascialeather.com, info@alpascia.com | Getting there Metro M 1 (Duomo); Tram 2, 14 (Via Torino/Via Santa Maria Valle) | Hours Mon 3pm –7:30pm (closed Mon in June and July), Tue – Fri 9:30am –1:30pm and 3pm –7:30pm, Sat 9:30am –7:30pm
3__ Altai
Carpet art
The rare carpets hang on the wall like pictures in an art gallery. Some of these ancient rugs are more than 100 years old and widely sought after by collectors. Raffaele Carrieri bought his first rug in Kurdistan about 20 years ago and has since gathered an impressive collection of pieces from 19 different nomadic tribes: felt carpets from Central Anatolia, wool Beni Ouarain-Berber carpets with abstract patterns, Kurdish Kirçil Kilims made from a combination of goat wool and cotton, mats made of palm wood and camel leather from the Sahara, and Zoroastrian knotted “flame” rugs. Nomadic living was prevalent in a wide band running from northern Eurasia through central and western Asia to the semideserts, steppes, and savannas of northern Africa. The carpets were used for protection from heat and cold, as dowries, and for prayer. The earliest were made of felt, as people could neither weave nor knot. They are adorned by only a few ancient traditional symbols for water, cardinal points, or protection. Some motifs are reminiscent of rock paintings. They are much older than, and very different from, richly patterned Persian carpets. For 2,000 years the same symbolic characters were passed unchanged from one generation to the next. These ancient minimally decorated carpets appear incredibly modern, however. “Today, such examples with their motifs and original language are in high demand with interior designers.” Moreover, Carrieri produces custom rugs on request for buyers from around the world in a studio in Uzbekistan that employs 40 weavers and 80 knotters, working under fair conditions exclusively with high-quality natural materials. An anthropologist who researches the old namad felt rugs from Sistan, an inaccessible area between Iran and Afghanistan, competently rounds out Carrieri’s team and adds to the perfection of Altai’s carpet art. 14
Address Via Pinamonte da Vimercate 6, 20121 Milan, Tel +39/02/29062472, www.altai.it, info@altai.it | Getting there Metro M 2 (Moscova) | Hours Tue – Sat 9:30am –1pm and 3pm –7:30pm
4__ Altalen Artistic toppers
It’s a tri-purpose space: showroom, workshop, and gallery. And it promises to be interesting from the moment you walk in and are greeted by a grinning papier-mâché dinosaur wearing a fabulous headdress. Playful cloth hats, elegant turbans, and other creations hang everywhere, and between the open racks you can see into the studio. There, colorful ribbons, feathers, bows, and tulle wait their turn to be used. On the walls hang pictures of artfully photographed hats. The owners are Elena Todros, a stylist and fashion editor, and Antonina De Luca, a stage and costume designer. The two women have run their own shop for three years now. Elena manages and takes care of communications, while Antonina designs the hats and seeks out further inspiration for their fabulous headwear in the film and theater world. She constantly creates new and unique pieces that seem to have leapt off the pages of a fairytale and regrets that the women of Milan are unfortunately not as adventurous as the women of New York – at least when it comes to hats. For that reason, however, not all of their creations are on the eccentric side. There are also many wearable hats for every taste and occasion, whether you are looking for fascinator hats, straw hats, Tyrolean hats, or turbans: “Once someone has learned to wear a hat, they barely manage to ever do without one again!” Here men can also purchase bowler hats, soft fedoras made out of felt, Trilbies – classical musicians’ hats from the blues, jazz, and ska scenes. Italy had a great hat tradition once upon a time, but today these skills and craftsmanship are hard to come by. There are only a few who can still make a hat by hand. But the demand for such handmade accessories is starting to grow again. Altalen’s customers include artists, musicians, and those with some daring: because for many a hat, you also need courage. 16
Address Via Benvenuto Cellini 21, 20129 Milan, Tel +39/02/87034435, www.altalen.it, atelier@altalen.it | Getting there Tram 9 (Viale Premuda) | Hours Tue – Fri 10:30am –1:30pm and 3:30pm –7:30pm, Sat by appointment
5__ AMP
If the shoe fits
It takes a lot of time to make a pair of handmade shoes. First, various measurements are taken (and this should be done in the afternoon, because in the morning your feet will be smaller). Type and style are discussed in order to prepare a shoe tree, on which preliminary versions of the shoes are then created. If they fit, you proceed with your choice of leather and the manufacturing of the actual shoes. The process normally takes around six months, but in extremely urgent cases can be shortened to two. The shoes aren’t cheap, but with proper care, they will last their owner nearly a lifetime and can be disassembled and rebuilt. “Those people who can afford to have custom shoes made are usually not in a big hurry, basically because they don’t need them. I know of fetishists who never actually put their shoes on, but just enjoy looking at them,” says Antonio Pio Mele, whose family has been making shoes for 40 years in Puglia. He grew up among machines and piles of leather and later became the production director for his father’s business. Industrial manufacturing did not interest him much, however, so he went to England to learn the craft. There he apprenticed with various shoemakers before returning to Italy and going to work for the strictest of all teachers: a stubborn Sicilian who would take the shoes he did not think were perfect and cut them right in half, making Antonio start over again from scratch. Pio Mele welcomes his customers in a small room where a few particularly special examples of his shoe designs are exhibited. Most customers know exactly what they want. His small workshop lies behind a curtain; his five employees, however, work in Vigevano, the former capital of men’s shoes. Every day he scurries here and there to keep everything under control. In his eyes, “comfortable walking is the most important thing, after all, because our feet have to carry us through life.” 18
Address Via Soncino 3, 20123 Milan, signorilescarpe@gmail.com | Getting there Metro M 1 (Duomo); Tram 2, 14 (Via Torino/Via Santa Maria Valle) | ÂHours By appointment only via e-mail
6__ Antik Arte e Scienza Mechanical jewels
This is a shop with an unusual ambience and an even more exceptional owner. Daniela Giorgi welcomes her customers among old globes, mechanical planetary models, sundials, and armillary spheres – which are models that represent the movement of celestial bodies. For nearly 30 years, Giorgi has collected nautical antiques and vintage scientific instruments. She first stumbled upon an antiques shop selling technical equipment one day when she was in Denmark. Fascinated by the collectibles, this mechanic’s daughter decided to purchase some and bring them back to Italy. And then, without hesitation, she moved from Bologna to Milan, where there were many antiquarians, but none who specialized in such objects. Thanks to her technical skill, she restored her first pieces and taught herself quite a bit about their inner workings. Today, she runs a small workshop behind the shop, where two restorers clean all the equipment and make everything operational. Among Daniela Giorgi’s mechanical jewels you’ll find nautical, geodetic, astronomical, and medical instruments. Milan is home to many passionate sailors who exalt in the ship models, paintings and schematic drawings of boats, telescopes, maps, figureheads, sextants, and compasses they find here. Barometers, thermometers, wind gauges, and hygrometers await weather geeks and amateur meteorologists. The display cases hold surgical accessories including an amazing little set from the First World War (complete with dental pliers that might prompt you to recoil in horror), educational anatomical models, apothecary kits, and body parts with pathologies. Significantly more pleasing to the eye, however, are the large, colorful botanical models that can be mounted upon each other: flowers and fruits made of papiermâché or plaster. It’s a virtual trove for the right kind of treasure hunter! 20
Address Via San Giovanni sul Muro 10, 20121 Milan, Tel +39/02/86461448, www.antik.it, info@antik.it | Getting there Metro M 1 (Cairoli) | Hours Mon 3:30pm –7:30pm, Tue – Sat 10am –7:30pm