Gucci has announced that it will be staging its Cruise 2018 fashion show at the Palatina Gallery at Pitti Place in Florence on May 29th. Why Florence? Because that’s where the brand’s history began, when it was founded by Guccio Gucci in 1921.

The location is not a random one either, because it is part of a cultural project partnership with the Uffizi Gallery and the City of Florence. The project, called Primavera di Boboli [translation: Spring in the Boboli Gardens] is a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Activites and Tourism with funding from the Municipality of Florence and the Uffizi Gallery towards the restoration of the Boboli Gardens. Gucci will also be contributing 2 Million Euros over the course of three years.

President and CEO of Gucci Marco Bizarri comments,

“This collaboration represents a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and sustain Florence’s cultural splendour and I would like to thank all the institutions that are involved. Gucci is a global brand with strong roots in Florence. The success we have achieved in recent years through the vision of our Creative Director, Alessandro Michele, is reliant upon the skills, spirit of innovation, passion and abilities of the craftspeople and anyone else who works for the brand in Florence and the surrounding area … [F]ollowing the presentation of the last two Cruise collections, in the art district of New York in 2015 and in the cloisters at London’s Westminster Abbey in 2016, staging the new Cruise collection show in the heart of Florence has a special meaning, particularly as Alessandro is constantly inspired by the city’s renaissance masterpieces”

Images courtesy of Gucci