Home decoration and garden stores Grands lacs italiens

A tobacco store: pipes and tabatières of time or not.

It was the poet and writer Gabriele D'Annunzio who named Italy's first shopping centre "the Renaissance" after a fire destroyed it in 1917. Today these Milanese Galeries Lafayette brings together all the major brands, from lingerie to cookware. In the basement, the Design Supermarket is a trendy design department. On the top floor, a bar-restaurant with a very attractive view of the forest of statues of the Duomo will allow you to take a pleasant break between two shopping sessions.

A sort of labyrinthine, avant-garde department store, High Tech is a mishmash of books, furniture, perfumes, fabrics, lamps and accessories. Over 2,000^m2 on three floors: perfumery, stationery and fashion accessories on the first floor, the kitchen department (filled with fun gadgets) and bathroom department in the basement, while the second floor features sofas, armchairs, tables, chairs and even office furniture. A sheet metal door gives access to a huge hangar filled with furniture from all over the world.

Antique and second-hand dealers meet in the picturesque setting of the Navigli, to sell (sometimes a little too expensive) very beautiful objects. An event that animates the district every last Sunday of the month. A real fair for special occasions that takes place along the canal, with stands where you can find some beautiful antiques, clocks, clocks, porcelain, silverware, old toys, prints and even vintage accessories.

Books, prints, antique prints.

Porcelain dolls, small trains, puppets and ancient toys.

Old stamps and posters.

Antiques and ancient books.

Prints, postcards, posters, everything about the two great wars and the years of fascism.

Furniture and furnishings.

Design furniture in a fairly clean style.

The famous Frau chair, and others.

Creativity and aestheticism at their most expressive: the beautiful boutique in Via Monte Napoleone showcases the creations of Murano's greatest glassmaker. Since 1921, Venini has combined the elegance of tradition with contemporary lines. His vases and floor lamps are unrivalled in their clarity and purity. We marvel at its collections, from the more classic Artglass and its iconic Fazzoletto (a vase whose outline is worked like the folds of fabric) to the more contemporary Artlight range.

Books and scores of opera and classical music, rare books for collectors.

A beautiful shop displaying the historical pieces of the famous brand founded by Giovanni Alessi in 1921. Tableware, decorative pieces with a playful spirit, the sympathetic and colourful lines of its design and functional objects have been invading Italian kitchens for thirty years. The chick kettle (placed on the spout) is a cult object, as is the corkscrew with a little lady's silhouette, available in several colours, the orange squeezer in the shape of a rocket or the very design fruit basket in steel wire "Spirogira".

Set up along via dei Fiori Chiari, here is a funny, original shop, a sort of landmark for collectors and enthusiasts, a shop where you can go even if you don't want to buy anything. Crowded with antique objects of all kinds, you can find old rubber pinocchios, English crockery, large enamelled advertising plaques, curious lamps, rustic furniture... A real cabinet of curiosities where it is good to browse between one object and another and end up with an old Vespa sign.

It takes place in a maze of alleys, this pretty neighbourhood market that draws a whole path through the lives of Fiori Chiari, Madonnina, Brera and Formentini. Small antique dealers, antique dealers and restorers follow one another here, offering objects as chic as the area where they are sold: porcelain, glassware with worked profiles, paintings, prints, antique canes, silverware and tea sets, some jewellery and even watches. It is not uncommon to also see street artists painting on canvas.

Undoubtedly the sunniest shop on the street: glasses, cups, dishes and lamps made of blown glass, gilded and worthy of a king's table. The first room, whose glittering window catches the eye of passers-by in the street, displays a multitude of coloured glasses. The fineness of their contours and the beauty of their lines make them suitable for all shapes and occasions. In the back shop, a few vintage pieces. Go there at Christmas time to find fairy-tale Christmas tree balls

At the corner of the elegant Corso Venezia, here is the store of Fornasetti, a Milanese company of international renown, famous for the design and decoration of rather luxurious furnishing objects. Founded by designer Piero Fornasetti in the 1950s, the house is best known for its intriguingly feminine plates. Among the many objects on offer are the Notte Fornasettiana panels in printed and hand-lacquered wood, the Combacio Malachite sofa in jacquard fabric and the Palladiana chest of drawers in printed and lacquered wood.