THE UNDERGROUND TRAVEL GUIDE TO MILAN ITALY
HIDDEN TREASURES IN MIL AN
MIL AN FASHION WEEK
TOP HOTSPOTS IN MIL AN ITALY
HIDDEN PLACES
MILAN STREET
THE TOP HOT SPOTS
IN MILAN ITALY
FASHION
IN MILAN
ISSUE 04 AUGUST
METRO
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I F I E V E R H AV E TO STOP TAKING THE SUBWAY I’M G O N N A H AV E A H E A RT A T T A C K EDWARD NORTON
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AUGUST 2017
METRO
FEATURES
T HIS ISSUES FE AT URES ON MIL A N I TA LY
TOP STORY
86 MILAN FASHION WEEK
MILAN FASHION WEEK AND STREET STYLE
94 TOP HOTSPOTS IN MILAN
HIDDEN PLACES IN MILAN ITALY THAT YOU MUST SEE
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DEPARTMENTS PLACES
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PLACES TO VISIT WHERE TO GO IN MILAN
DUOMO OF MILAN CATHEDRAL OF DUOMO
FOOD
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3 MUST TRY RESTURANTS
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TOP FOODS IN MILAN
TOP PLACES TO EAT
TOP FOODS TO TRY IN MILAN
EDITORS CHOICE
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SECRET LOCAL HANGOUTS
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TOP PICKS
EDITORS CHOICE
EDITORS CHOICE OF TOP PLACES
USER TIPS
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TIPS OF BERLIN
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PHRASES TO LEARN
MUST KNOW TIPS
TOP PL ACES TO E AT
HOTELS
MILAN TRAVEL INFORMATION E XCLUSIVE TIPS ON HOW TO GE T AROUND MIL AN I T A LY. T H E U S E R F R I E N D LY G U I D E T O H A V I N G A S U C C E S S F U L T R I P. F O R M O R E T I P S T I P S V I S I T O U R W E B S I T E H E R E A T W W W. M E T R O M A G A Z I N E . C O M
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HOTEL ARMANI
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WALLET SAVING HOTELS
GIORGIO ARMANI HOTEL
HOTELS ON A BUDGET
TRAVEL
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URBAN BIKING
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TRAVELING IN MILAN
HOW TO GET AROUND
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ITALY TRAVEL GUIDE
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Milan is a glamorous city, but not quite in the same class as Rome, Florence, or Venice. The city provides the tourist a number of delightful explorations that are tightly clustered in the vicinity of the Duomo, Milan’s ostentatious cathedral. Widely known as a fashion center, Milan is a great place for shopping
The Duomo is an impressive site. The gothic cathedral’s architecture is decorated with nu merous spires and more than three thousand statues. Construction started in the four teenth century and was completed only fifty years ago. The massive cathedral is one of the largest in the world. Cavernous is the word that comes to mind when one views the inte rior of the Duomo - it can hold over twenty five thousand for services. The Duomo does not have the sheer majesty that one would expect from a church of its size. The interior statuary and decorations are interesting but not extraordinary.
The red light near the roof is a reliquary that holds what is believed to be a nail from the True Cross. Examine the statue of St. Bar tholomew from the side to see that he is posed carrying his own skin over his shoul der, a result of flaying during his martyrdom.
The Duomo of Milan blurs the distinction be tween Gothic and neo-Gothic, for the Gothic west front was begun in 1616 and completed
Be sure the visit the small but interesting Treasury for some beautiful examples of silver smithing. Take the elevator to explore the roof of the cathedral. The roof offers a great view of the gilded Madonna topping the Duomo, as well as a panorama of Central Milan. Immodest dress (shorts, sleeveless tops, etc.) will disqualify you from entry to the Duomo.
Duomo di Milano Milan Cathedral Italy
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ince the 1950s, Milan has been known as Italy’s fashion capital, where at least twice a year buyers and the media de
scend on the Lombardia capital to see the flamboyant runway shows held by Armani, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, and others on and around Via Montenapoleone. This be ing Italy, lunch and dinner are taken seri ously, with both chic trattorias and grand ristoranti reserved weeks in advance. But those same wonderful places stay open year round. Here are three of the best.
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BICE RISTORANTE OF MILAN
BICE RISTORANTE OF MILAN
Why go: Beatrice and Roberta, is still the favou rite in the area. What to eat: Tagliolini pasta with fresh porcini mushrooms Take note: You can shop till you drop, then come here for a fine meal.
Alla Cucina delle Langhe
ALLA CUCINA DELLE LANGHE
Why go: Very elegant, very refined, with a su perb menu of modern cucina italiana. What to eat: Risotto with orange, chanterelles and leeks in a Taleggio cheese sauce Take note: The restaurant gives cooking classes on Saturday mornings.
Four Seasons Hotel Milano
FOUR SEASONS HOTEL MILANO
Why go: Beautiful cafe located in the four sea sons hotel. What to eat: Their seafood pasta and breakfast menu are fabulous. Take note: You can stay in this lovely hotel as well as get amazing food.
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Guy Trebay
HIDDEN TREASURES
IN MILAN Italy, and the spring and first love all to gether should suffice to make the gloom iest person happy. -Bertrand Russell
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G
o looking for the new in Milan, Italy, and you doom your self to disappointment. I say this with a confidence that results from the fact that my job has carried me to this millennium-old city four times every year for more than a decade. True, there is the occasional glimmer of progress, far from least the recent political broom sweep that finally pushed Italy’s scan dal plagued prime minister Silvio Berlusconi to the curb. Even before the European debt crisis forced the media mogul—who had weathered accusations of corruption, ties to the Mafia, and an unwholesome appetite for teen prostitutes—to step down, there were subtle signs in Berlusconi’s hometown of Milan that change was afoot. Some of this had to do with the construction of Porta Nuova Va resine, a much-ballyhooed urban renewal project on the site of an old rail station, built to bring millions of square feet of retail, office, and cultural space to the city, along with some shiny new starchitecture by the American firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates. But as a New Yorker, I find it hard to generate the requisite ex citement for a bunch of glass towers. Far more thrilling was the Duomo’s emergence from a seemingly never-ending renovation. When the scaffolding finally came down from the main façade, it was as if a film star you’d always loved had emerged from a face-lift as dewy and gorgeous as she’d ever been. Funding for the Duomo project came largely from the private sector, the government hav ing fallen asleep on the job. The same was substantially the case with the legendary Teatro alla Scala, which also reappeared newly gilded and gleaming after its own long renovation.
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Though it seems conventional and staid, Milan, Italy has a wealth of little-known pleasures.
in a restaurant that is one of my haunts in the city, eating bowls of vivid green soup made from stinging nettles. This hearty first course had been prepared by Arturo Maggi, a man with a head like a public monument and the habit of referring to himself not as a chef but as an “alchemist.” Maggi, his wife, Maria, and their sons, Roberto and Marco, run La Latteria, an eight-table hole-in-the-wall a short walk from San Marco, a church where, in a side altar, is installed a credible copy of Caravaggio’s Deposition, a masterpiece that allegedly hung here at one time. Whenever I am in Milan, I make plans to have dinner at La Latteria, stopping en route at San Marco to light one of the pale wax candles that in Milan have not yet been replaced by feebly flicker ing electric lights. Few Milanese know about La Latteria, a well-kept secret where for decades Maggi has offered his delectable but unfussy home cooking, food prepared according to quasi scientific precepts involving an evolved philosophy relat ing to the reactive properties of metals and food. Maggi cooks exclusively in pots made from .999 silver or alumi num, and perhaps only he understands precisely how this benefits the taste of his cuisine. Yet anyone who eats there is immediately struck by the intense freshness of the food and the produce that typically comes from Maggi’s own garden or direct from farmer friends. On any given day the crowd at La Latteria might include the architect Renzo Piano or Carla Sozzani, the owner of 10 Corso Como, that 82 METRO AUGUST
THE FAMOUS DUOMO CATHEDRAL
MODERN CAFE IN MILAN
THE BEAUTIFUL ARCHITECTURE FOUND IN MILAN ITALY
mother of all “concept” stores, or else Barna ba Fornasetti, son of Piero, the great furniture designer. It will also just as likely include the local pharmacist, or me. Everyone is democratically jammed into one or another of the small tables wedged into a corner, beside a minuscule bar, or behind the door, happy to be in this brightly lit space where the decoration runs to charmingly awful floral paintings that the owners proudly frame and hang.
Milan is considered to be the fashion center of the world. The place has headquarters and businesses of some of the leading international de signers, which include Gucci, Prada, Armani,
The major industries that help in the growth of the economy of Milan are Textile manufac turing, Chemical manufactur ing, Food manufacturing, Tour ism, Shipbuilding, etc.
Milan is credited to be the second largest city in Italy. The total population of Milan is around 1.5 million. Dumo Cathedral is a major tourist attraction of Milan. It is one of the biggest Gothic Cathe
“It’s important that food is not only delicious,” Maggi remarked one recent afternoon, as his wife served plates of rabbit stew in dense and redolent ragù and carafes of the brusque house red. “It has to be nourishing to give you health and strength.” Health and strength you require in plenty if you aim to penetrate the mysteries of Milan. Good walking shoes also help. I favor rubber soled loafers from Prada or sturdy Gommini from Tod’s for pavement pounding. Despite its efficient subway system and network of an tiquated trolleys, Milan is a pedestrian town. Those Frenchwomen who somehow never grow fat are not possessors of any special secret. In most European cities people keep their figures mainly by smoking and getting around on their feet. I lost four pounds in a week spent racing around the city, all the while eating like a very fortunate.
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On a more domestic scale, intrepid newcomers pe riodically show up to import something unexpected to Milan’s perennially conservative dining scene. In the case of Genoa natives Marco Bruni and Paul Lips, it was the introduction of regional home cooking served in a setting almost too casual and rough-hewn to fit a city so formal and prim. “Am I in Milan,” one wonders at U Barba, “or Brooklyn?” A former sporting club turned restaurant, U Barba (the name is Genovese dialect for uncle) has a kitchen filled with the reconditioned pasta cutters and blend ing apparatuses Bruni collects. “I don’t want things too perfect, and with the old machines you get more texture in the food,” he said. The restaurant has a bocce court active in all but the coldest of seasons. Watching people play there, one can’t help but re call the Jane Jacobs dictum that old buildings make good settings for new ideas. Old cities do, too. Despite the fact that Milan, Italy, plays host to the prestigious annual Salone del Mobile and the twice -yearly ready-to-wear fashion shows—events that use the city as a changeable scrim against which, season after season, designers offer up the latest in, respec tively, furniture and clothing—there’s no escaping the sense that in Milan cutting-edge is an alien concept. Hip can’t happen here. I struggled with this at first, continually on the prowl for some glimmer of newness. I made fruitless efforts to cozy up to a city bent on preserving an enigmatic northern distance. Spending as much time there as I did, it seemed necessary to discover the spring that opens the secret drawer. And, as with most revelations of this sort, when I finally happened upon the key to understanding, it turned out to have been hidden in plain sight. I was looking for novelty in Milan when all along the allure of the place was its inverse. Few cities, in Italy or otherwise, hold fast to the time-tested as Milan does, and few places so fetishize that most conserva tive of virtues, refinement. In Milan it is no hardship to find a specialty cutlery store selling a mind-boggling array of, say, horn-han dled hunting knives (G. Lorenzi) or one that offers an array of gloves in wrist, driving, and opera lengths (Sermoneta Gloves). There is a confectionery shop I often visit in a store front little altered since it opened in the 19th century. Standing at a minute zinc-topped coffee bar there, you order bite-size sandwiches while a clerk wraps your purchase of confections that must have seemed anachronistic even in your grandmother’s time. Candied violets? Pasticceria Marchesi has them, and not only that but candied rose petals and lilacs. If you happen to be there around All Souls’ Day in early November, you can find at Marchesi the delicious 8284 METRO METROAUGUST AUGUST
small seasonal loaves of sugar-dusted pan dei morti, although the ones I prefer come from Giovanni Galli, a rival shop. It says something about a city that it can sustain real competition between bakeries with house recipes for cakes for the dead. In Milan a sober and venerable engraver (Ditta Rai mondi di Pettinaroli) tucked amid the Prada and Dol ce & Gabbana emporiums on the bustling high street of Corso Venezia stocks copperplates that date to the company’s founding, which corresponds roughly with the signing of the Declaration of Independence. At Pettinaroli one can order correspondence cards and have them personalized using a blind emboss ing technique so subtle one’s initials seem written in braille. In Milan it is still possible to fall upon what must be among one of the last great troves of secondhand goods in Europe at the Mercatone dell’Antiquariato. Here, on the last Sunday of each month, hundreds of dealers set up at dawn with offerings including the reconditioned kitchen equipment that people like Mr. Bruni of U Barba collect, but also Venini glass or plas ter crèche figures or bridal linens or Mussolini memo rabilia or industrial material such as the jointed-metal 1950’s doormat I snapped up for $80 that looks like a piece of contemporary art. Not only is there a shop (Mercatores) in Milan special izing in uniforms for household domes
Despite the fact that Milan, Italy, plays host to the prestigious annual Salone del Mobile and the twice-yearly ready-to-wear fashion shows—events that use the city as a changeable scrim against which, season after season, designers offer up the latest in, respectively, furniture and clothing—there’s no escaping the sense that in Milan cutting-edge is an alien concept. Hip can’t happen here.
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FA
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MILAN ASHION WEEK STREET STYLE LAURA MERCIER
AS
fashion week draws to a close in Milan, style
comes through in the details. Bright colors are still the crowd favorite, but today they’re at their boldest on fin gernails and punch-colored collars. Ladylike polka dots express extra personality when peeking out under a zebra -print blazer, or tucked into an equine-inspired belt, and leather is seen anew on over-the-elbow gloves. Perhaps these emboldened touches foretell breakout trends to come in Paris.
GET
T R E N D S E TTING : MULT I FAC ETED 6 0 ’S
HAUTE DESIGN
Milan has a long history within the fashion, cloth ing and textile industries. Throughout the late 19th century, being one of the main industrial and economic powerhouses of the country, the city was a major production centre within the trade. Milanese fashion, despite taking inspiration from the leading Parisian couture designs of the time, developed its own approach, which was by nature devoted to the quality of the fabric, soberness and simplicity. Throughout the 20th century, the city developed its role as a fashion centre, with a number of rising designers and figures within the industry which contributed to Milan’s image as a stylistic capital. Milan truly became one of the world’s top fashion cities in the 1970s and 80s, fur ther developing and keeping its prestigious status into the 1990s and 2000s, being now seen as part of the “big four” cities. Milan is especially known
BOHEMIAN HEAD SCARVES
Ferragamo Creative Direc tor Massimiliano Giornetti has given us a sketch from his new collection.
T THE LOOK cities. Milan is especially known for its role within the prêt-à-porter category of fashion.
In 2009, the city was declared as the “fashion capital of the world” by the Global Language Monitor, even surpassing its relative cities.The next year, Milan dropped out of the top four reaching sixth place, yet as of 2011 it is back at fourth place. Milan’s fashion history has evolved greatly throughout the years. Milan began as a cen tre of fashion in the Middle-Ages and Renais sance, as in Venice and Florence, the mak ing of luxury goods was an industry of such importance that in the 16th century the city gave its name to the English word “milaner” or “millaner”, meaning fine wares like jewel lery, cloth, hats and luxury apparel. By the 19th century, a later variant, “millinery”, had come to mean one who made or sold hats. In the mid-19th century cheaper silk began to be imported from Asia and the pest phyllox era damaged silk and wine production. More land was subsequently given over to industri alisation. Textile production was followed by metal and mechanical and furniture manufac ture. In 1865, the first major department store in the country opened in Milan by the Bacconi brothers (which was called Alle Città d’Italia and later in 1921 became La Rinascente.
made directly or to small stores, the opening of these new department stores modernised the distributions of clothes in the city.
The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in 1880. In terms of the Milanese people, they are said to have probably been “fashion conscious” in the 1880s and late 19th century. The Milanese style was partially inspired by French fashion, which at the time was still dominant in terms of influence, yet adapted according to local tastes; this included a generally sombre and simple style, which was moderate in terms of decoration and ornamentation, and put an emphasis on the quality of tailoring and the different fabrics and textiles. The general Milanese interest in styling was reflected in the
number of fashion magazines. This circulated in the city at the time, as well as the fact that the people were ready to follow trends; nev ertheless, the Milanese style was relatively tra ditional. The city had several tailors and seam stresses which in 1881 amounted to 249 and in 1886 to 383 (which were listed in guides). In this period, the city was one of the biggest industrial powerhouses in Italy, and had a di versified fashion and clothing economy which was mainly based on small workshops rather than large companies .
ELEGANT BIKES CAN BE RENTED OR BOUGHT IN MILAN
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here are three things that mystify ing and whispy chiffon - and a welcome one. most Italians; taxes, feminism, and Who doesn’t love film noir, particularly when it those who dislike fur. yields glossy black leather dresses, supple as a There w/as a white fur fronted iPad case, one criminal’s conscience; and pinstripe suits, sharp model dressed entirely in a tawny, lion-toned as a stiletto. The tailoring was strong enough (but no, surely, not?) fur skirt and jacket with to seduce a Chandler: Raymond, not the the a coquettish little feathery fur tailpiece that sappy one from Friends. Lisa Arm strong Masmade her look like some executive caveman's similiano Giornetti, in situ since 2010, is modhot clubbed-on-the-head secretary, fur-fringed ernising this venerable Italian brand with brio. shoes and crocodile bags with multicoloured That means jettisoning gim micks and concentrating on semi-strict, rather than slouchy, fur fringing at the side. tailoring - this time in velvet and leather - and And this is not stealth fur, built for hypocrite juxtaposing it with gold-stamped chiffon and fur-yearners who want to wear it on the down drop-shouldered dresses in gar net or black. low and avoid getting hissed at on the bus: If the drop-waists on thick lace dresses were a there was a final section of treated, Sesame mis-step, and some styling a bit overwrought, Street shaggy coats that included one so ra those gleaming knee-high boots more than diantly canary yellow it would make a highly compensated. Let’s not for get that Salvatore efficient emergency beacon. Ferragamo started out in the Forties as a cobIn the spirit of anthropological detachment bler. This house makes quality footwear, and it - fur is as intrinsically Milanese as great cof doesn’t charge crazy. fee and terrible traffic - this show was worth Clothes are as varied as the women who wear watching for Karl Lagerfeld's playful pleating, them so, without being too Gok Wan about hourglass tailoring offset by tight, wide belts, it, think about yourself before tackling your and a great (and by the looks of it fur-free) outfit. Karl Lagerfeld’s collection for Fendi in belted blue coat with baseball cap peaked cluded some excellent examples of shape-ma shoulders. The only animal effect that wasn't nipulation sleight-of-hand. Wide, rigid, stom based on a real, formerly-kicking beast was ach- embracing lines contrasted with a fuller the stingray skin print on many of the pigtailed shape at the shoulder - which also obscured the models' ripped leggings, which were worn up per arm but left the forearm displayed. This over black tights. combination is perfect for anyone seek ing an For those who are content not to dwell on hourglass effect, even if their original hourglass the fate of the beasts that wore much of this runneth over. collection before the models did, it was a very Well-cut trousers, a forgivingly long coat and a seductive show indeed. high-necked blouse: sounds a little middle of Dig out some Grace Kelly classics - particu the-road. Yet safe, everyday shapes don’t have larly To Catch A Thief , High Society and Rear to lack pizzazz: Etro is particularly big on dizzy Window - and you should spot the starting ing patterns (it loves paisley), bold co lour and point for this beautiful collection: classical visual tics that take you back to the Sixties. All mid-20th century couture. But retro clothes of them were combined in a show that demon quickly become empty costume drama, so Raf strated why a permissive attitude to decoration Simons (this is his last collection for the house) and colour is the best way to inject interest into brought his finely wrought nostalgia back to a conservative style. now with surprising colour combinations and The main message seemed to be that, far from subtly clashing materials being cumbersome, a huge, serious coat or No sooner does Adele reveal that she prefers fabulously luxe pea-coat frees you up to wear dressing primly to putting it all out there, then something cute and slimline underneath - in this Milan steps into line. Alberta Ferretti explored instance, shorts, three-quarter-length trousers a buttoned-up kind of allure in her show, with with braces and stripey lightweight sweaters. high necklines, below-the-knee hems and Even at night, the cosy embrace of sheepskin a self-assured, hard-boiled swagger that coat has replaced the feathery bo lero as a brought to mind Joan Crawford and Bette Da companion to satin evening dresses and bell vis. This is a departure from her normal drap bottoms. Their shoes made sense: how else 90 METRO AUGUST
do you lift a khaki or camel if not with silver Mary Janes? The white tights with which Marni accesso rised every look will be a minority pursuit, but they were a foil for the cropped-at-the-shin black trousers that came out with almost ev erything else. The trousers were part of what Consuelo Castiglioni described as “my ongo ing love affair with all things masculine. But I wanted to counteract the boyishness with curved, slender shapes.” And that’s what she did. Short-sleeved tops and belted jackets had an almost hour-glass outline, but there were plenty of loose, drop-belted coats and dresses for those who avoid obvious come -hither dressing. Stand by for Marni’s forth coming appearance at H&M. Are you ready for the scrum? The models’ dip-dyed hair and The Tiger Who Came to Tea eye make-up were characteristi cally quirky, so were the rubber-coated plat form Mary Jane shoes. “Practical for winter,” said Miuccia Prada backstage, although she almost slipped up when she took her bow in them. All the trouser suits and high-waisted jackets and coats will walk right out of the store, even if they end up being bought in black, rather than the clashing grid patterns, one being a vintage Prada print. “Black is easy but boring,” said Prada. She must have had a tedious day: she was head to toe in it. Revealing clothes do not have to show acres of flesh. Bottega Veneta’s uber-precise Ger man designer Tomas Maier combined darker colours and form-fitting cut to create a col llection that would work perfectly on a woman whose sensuality is hinted at rather than sema phored. “We took a very direct approach to the body this season,” said Maier: “The look is covered this up… yet the effect is power fully physical.” Men wear suits because they have to, and hence often wear them badly: women should wear them - and wear them well. Armani is the best soft-line tailor in fashion, exempli fied in this collection. The dark colours and block-like shape of a men’s suit-based outfit distracts from the particulars of its wearer, while drawing the eye to a woman who’s con fident enough in her femininity to play with a masculine uniform. The rakish hats were a gimmick but looked good.
“ CLOTHES ARE AS VARIED AS THE WOMEN WHO WEAR THEM.” -GOK WAN
THE UNIQUE STREET FASHION IN MILAN ITALY
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