Celebrating 80 years since the opening of the Allied Forces Gift Shop by Giovanni Battista Giorgini

Let's discover together the history of this crucial place in the Florentine post-liberation rebirth

Florence is celebrating the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Allied Forces Gift Shop, the gift shop reserved for soldiers of the Anglo-American troops, a symbol of a fundamental chapter in the city's economic and cultural recovery. This place represented a crucial piece in the Florentine post-reliberation rebirth of 1944, strengthening a special bond between Florence and America that went far beyond economic aspects, intertwining with local culture and craftsmanship.

It was a link that was intuited as early as 1924 by Giovanni Battista Giorgini, a pioneer who brought the products of Italian craftsmanship to the United States, initiating that union between fashion and craftsmanship that would shape Florence's identity throughout the world. The initiative, promoted by the Councillor for Culture Giovanni Bettarini, focuses on Florentine excellence and its ability to build lasting cultural and commercial bridges.

G.B. Giorgini 1955 (Archivio Giorgini)

The Allied Forces Gift Shop opened its doors at 56 Via Calzaiuoli, on the initiative of the Allied Command and under the guidance of Giovanni Battista Giorgini, a key figure in Florentine craftsmanship and a profound connoisseur of international markets. The chosen space, which in the following years would house the Duilio 48 and COIN department stores, became the reference point for Anglo-American troops thanks to the fame Giorgini had already acquired in the United States. At the time living on the Bellosguardo hill, from which there was a panoramic view of Florence, Giorgini turned his home into a strategic location for the Allied Command, thanks also to his and his family's perfect command of English. His network of relationships with Florentine craftsmen and his commercial vision made him the natural choice to organise the Gift Shop, which was opened in record time, just a month after the liberation of Florence.

The space was subdivided to accommodate 19 excellent craftsmen who, following the Florentine tradition, combined production and sales. The offerings ranged from leather goods to silverware, costume jewellery to Florentine mosaics, and also included toys, perfumes, prints and even a bookshop and a painter. For clothing, the leading name was Zanobetti, an iconic brand still active today. This model, innovative for the time, not only consolidated the link between high craftsmanship and fashion, but laid the foundations for Giorgini's future success, which would culminate in the first Italian fashion show on 12 February 1951.

The Gift Shop experiment, which lasted until 1946, was so popular that it was replicated in other northern Italian cities, such as Milan and Trieste, again under Giorgini's supervision. This pioneering initiative not only fostered the post-war economic rebirth, but consolidated Florence as the capital of craftsmanship of excellence, able to fascinate the entire world.