Gucci turns to fine dining
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 last week 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 make a 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 highspending clients’ cash is going,” says Fabrizio Pini, professor and joint director of the International Master in Luxury Management at Milan’s MIP
The big brands are following where their high-spending clients’ cash is going.” Fabrizio Pini, professor, International Master in Luxury Management business school
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-center store locations as customers increasingly shop online.
The Gucci restaurant is sited behind the walls of the 14th-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, Peruvianinspired tostadas, pork belly buns and mushroom risotto for 20-30 euros ($24-37) per dish.
Few business strategies come without an element of risk, however.
Bernstein analyst Mario Ortelli says that if luxury companies did not provide a gastronomic experience that matched their other goods, it could dilute their brands. “The experience has to be luxurious and recognizable,” he says.
While labels are looking to these investments for marketing purposes rather than to generate a profit, a presence in food could offer some financial returns in the long run.
“Food is a luxury as much as fashion,” says Stefano Cantino, strategic marketing director at Prada, which owns exclusive Milan patisserie Marchesi. “Barriers have been broken.”
The Gucci Osteria restaurant is part of “Gucci Garden”, which includes an exhibition area, a bazaar-like boutique and a cinema room. “Haute couture and haute cuisine are a recipe made in heaven,” Bottura says.