FILE PHOTO: A Gucci sign is seen outside a shop in Paris, France, December 18, 2017. REUTERS/Charles Platiau
FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) – It?s all a matter of taste.
Luxury labels are accustomed to tempting fashionistas, and now they?re stretching from haute couture to haute cuisine.
Gucci opened a 50-seat restaurant, Gucci Osteria, in Florence on Tuesday where three-Michelin-star chef Massimo Bottura will serve up high-end dishes.
The Italian fashion house, owned by Kering, is not the only luxury company to foray into food; LVMH announced late last year it would open a second branch of its gourmet grocer La Grande Epicerie in Paris, days before Tiffany?s & Co opened its Blue Box Cafe in New York.
?The big brands are following where their high-spending clients? cash is going,? said Fabrizio Pini, professor and joint director of the International Master in Luxury Management of Milan?s MIP Politecnico business school. Gucci and its rivals do not expect these investments to yield significant financial returns, for now, but they are seen as a way of enhancing their global brands. In some cases, eateries can also be a way to make the most out of large, city-centre store sites as customers increasingly shop online.
The Gucci restaurant is sited behind the walls of the 14-century Palazzo della Mercanzia building, overlooking the city?s most famous square, Piazza della Signoria. Visitors can treat themselves to the likes of Parmigiano Reggiano tortellini, Peruvian-inspired...