Venice
Impeccably tailored midnight-blue silk-satin dresses with exuberant woolly shoulders showcase not only the skills of sisters Patrizia and Samanta Fiorenza…
Must-see shopping in The Veneto
San Polo & Santa Croce
Couple Tiziano and Vanessa use a variety of printmaking techniques including silk screen and xylograph to create handmade T-shirts and bags, some with…
San Polo & Santa Croce
The window display offers a tantalising hint at the custom jewellery this versatile goldsmiths’ atelier can create for you, with original designs that nod…
San Polo & Santa Croce
Yes, you actually can take a gondola home in your pocket. Anyone fascinated by the models at the Museo Storico Navale will go wild here, amid handmade…
San Polo & Santa Croce
Made you look: these Murano glass jewels in bold colours and shapes have the attention-getting powers of traffic lights. Cascades of lilac beads cluster…
Venice
Expect to fall in lust with these richly hued, contemporary leathergoods. Made by artisans using full-grain Tuscan leather, these coveted butter-soft…
Venice
Husband-and-wife team Mauro and Antonella graduated from the Architecture Institute in Venice and have never left. They design exquisite objects for the…
Venice
Question: how do you maintain a bella figura (good impression) when high tides are sloshing around your ankles? The answer can be found at Martina Ranaldo…
San Polo & Santa Croce
Ziggurats of sun-dried tomatoes, leaning towers of star anise and chorus lines of olive oils draw awestruck foodies to Mascari’s windows. Indoors, chefs…
Murano, Burano & the Northern Islands
Giordano Guarnieri started working with glass in 1946 when he was just nine years old and made his name producing chandeliers. He opened this workshop in…
San Polo & Santa Croce
Glass menageries don’t get more fascinating than the one created before your eyes by Signor Amadi. Fierce little glass crabs approach pink-tipped coral,…
Venice
When an Italian minimalist falls in love with a Murano glass-blower, the result is spare, spirited glass jewellery. Esperienze is a collaborative effort…
San Polo & Santa Croce
When you start feeling the effects of all those spritz sessions, pick up some healing herbs at this vintage pharmacy. Adorned with 19th-century woodwork…
Venice
The lion of San Marco looks fashionably fierce when embossed upon a turquoise billfold by leather artisan Davide Desanzuane. Unexpected colours update…
San Polo & Santa Croce
The same thought occurs to many people after hearing a concert in Venice: is it too late to take up an instrument? The easiest would be harmonica or…
Venice
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection's bright, enticing museum shop is stuffed with brilliant things designed to get your creative juices flowing. Books on art…
Venice
Chances are you'll find glass-maker Patrizia Iacovazzi (known as Simona to her friends) at her work table, turning glass into striking, elegant wearables,…
San Polo & Santa Croce
Pied à Terre’s colourful furlane (Venetian slippers) are handcrafted with recycled bicycle tyre treads, ideal for finding your footing on a gondola…
Venice
American transplant Trina Tygrett studied glass-making at the Academy of Fine Arts and subsequently married into a Murano-glass family. She now works…
Venice
Restyle your life at this modern design showcase, which stocks a sharply curated selection of Italian and international jewellery, accessories, homewares…
San Polo & Santa Croce
Sailors, pirates and armchair seafarers should navigate to this canalside storefront, which stocks every maritime map and sailor's-knot manual needed for…
Venice
Step out in stylish, well-heeled and surprisingly practical shoes, made right in Venice. Algae-green high-button boots, ox-blood Oxfords and strappy…
San Polo & Santa Croce
Gabriele Gmeiner honed her shoemaking craft at Hermès and John Lobb, and today jet-setters fly to Venice just for her ultra-sleek Oxfords with hidden …
Venice
Work your way through Venice’s most decadent vices at this Willy Wonka–esque shop, where lip-smacking edibles include plague doctor masks. Ganache-filled…
Venice
Spare white bisque cups seem perfect for a Zen tea ceremony, but look inside – that iridescent lilac glaze is pure Carnevale. Danghyra's striking ceramics…
San Polo & Santa Croce
A magnet for local students and tourists looking for something out of the ordinary, this delightful unisex clothing store stocks unusual labels, with a…
Venice
Housed in one of the pretty Liberty villas at the end of verdant Viale Garibaldi is this association of Venetian ceramicists (the Bochaleri). Every…
Venice
Either a shooting star just landed on your shoulder, or you’ve been to Gualti, where iridescent orange glass bursts from clear resin stems on a supernova…
Venice
Globally oriented but with Italian tastes firmly in mind, this volunteer-run fair-trade co-op sells Vietnamese bamboo steamers, single-origin drinking…
Venice
Attached to a graphic-design studio and editorial consultancy, Bruno is one of the most innovative art and design bookshops in Venice. It produces…
Venice
Precarious stacks of books appear in constant danger of collapse at this wonderfully ragtag secondhand bookshop. Some books are displayed in a gondola –…
Venice
A much-loved antiques flea market held several weekends a year; check the website for dates. Head in early for the best finds, among them vintage Campari…
Venice
Venice artisan Ninfa Salerno gives staid pearl strands a sense of humour with bouncy black rubber, weaves fuchsia rubber discs into glowing UFO necklaces,…
Venice
Italian design sensibilities meet Venetian trading smarts at this fair-trade boutique on the steps of the Rialto. It sells everything from organic…
Venice
Whether you're after a Venice-set Donna Leon detective novel or a hefty tome on Venetian history or art, this large bookshop stocks a solid range of…
San Polo & Santa Croce
This store sells women's clothing in luxury natural fabrics from Italian fashion labels you can't find elsewhere in the city. There's also a small range…
Verona
Brand-new 'concept' wine shop where over 300 reds and whites are stored in funkily stacked cardboard tubes, each one linked to the arts in some …
Venice
Call in for top-notch artisanal chocolate, regional wine, speciality Veneto grappa and other gourmet temptations, including aged balsamic vinegar and…
Venice
Even pulp fiction becomes high art at Charta, where favourite books are custom-bound in bespoke covers. Customised titles run into the hundreds of euros.
Venice
In Venice even the supermarkets are beautiful! Try not to be distracted by the painted ceilings and marbled walls while you hunt for milk and tea bags.
