Hospitality Design - May 2014 - 167

perspectives

interview

valeriano
antonioli
By Ayesha Kahn
Photography courtesy of the Lungarno Collection

1

HAUTE HOTEL

2

The Ferragamo brand takes a personalized
approach

Salvatore Ferragamo is remembered for
placing Florence firmly on the map of Italian
haute couture. Since the 1950s, when the
famed shoemaker moved his operations from
Los Angeles to his hometown, Florence has
reclaimed its place as a modern day Renaissance
capital of Italian artistry and craftsmanship. It's
no surprise that the Ferragamo family opened
its latest hotel-the second in its new Portrait
brand under the company's hotel offshoot, the
Lungarno Collection-in the city with the same
bespoke spirit.
The 36-suite Portrait Firenze joins an
existing four hotels, including the first of the
Portrait brand in Rome; fine dining restaurants;
a luxury yacht collection; and a Tuscan villa,
all united under founder (and Salvatore's son)
Leonardo Ferragamo's vision that guests would
"leave our hotels and cities with baggage full
of lasting memories." The Ferragamo family
opened its first hotel-and the first from the
fashion world-in 1997. But other fashion houses
see hotels as "an occasion to translate their
strong brands into the reality of a hotel," explains
Lungarno Collection CEO Valeriano Antonioli.
"The Lungarno properties are not associated to a
particular period in fashion. The choice for this
brand to go into hospitality was due to a cultural

1+2. A suite at the
Portrait Firenze embraces
Florence's bespoke,
made-in-Italy spirit and
boasts a balcony with a
view of the Ponte Vecchio.

heredity, as hospitality was, and is, in the family's
DNA." The Ferragamo family operated Il Borro,
a massive Tuscan wine estate, for years before
the launch of the Lungarno Collection. "They
wanted to leverage their culture in this endeavor
and not necessarily rely on the strength of their
fashion brand," says Antonioli. What's more, the
only direct reference to the Ferragamo brand
at Portrait Firenze is the toiletries in the suites'
Carrara marble-lined bathrooms.
Instead, an ethos of made-in-Italy
craftsmanship that defines the lauded fashion
house pervades every space of the hotel, from
the light-filled lobby and restaurant that overlook

the Arno River to the sprawling 2,938-squarefoot penthouse suite ("the hotel's gem," says
Antonioli) with views of the Ponte Vecchio. "As
with our previous hotels, [Florentine architect
and designer] Michele Bönan unites themes
of 'harmony and irony' in his design to create
delightful and eclectic hotels. This time he has
drawn inspiration from the famed craftsmanship
heritage of Florence and from the birth of Italian
haute couture that took place here in the 1950s to
create an exceptional home-like experience."
Bönan conveyed this aesthetic by
approaching the design through an aristocratic
lens, featuring vintage Toscanova furnishings set

hospitalitydesign.com May 2014

167
http://www.hospitalitydesign.com
Hospitality Design - May 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hospitality Design - May 2014
