Gucci houses luxury's history in new museum

FLORENCE (Reuters Life!) - Global luxury brand Gucci opened its first museum in a Florentine palazzo this week, 90 years after its founder started a family leather goods business inspired by English aristocrats.

Stars of the fashion world came out to celebrate the museum's opening at a lavish ceremony on Monday in Florence's treasured Piazza della Signoria, home to the 14th-century Palazzo della Mercanzia that houses Gucci's new exhibit.

"United we're stronger," said Ferruccio Ferragamo, chairman of the Tuscan star shoemaker which bears his name, at the party to launch the Gucci museum, which spans three floors.

Inside the sumptuous confines of the palazzo, Gucci's famed "bamboo" handbags owned by fashion idols Jackie Onassis and Sofia Loren are on permanent display for the first time and the basement houses the Gucci archive, an immense collection of ready-to-wear, accessories and photographs....