Prada Owns A Pastry Shop And It’s Classy As Hell
In case you missed it, late last year, powerhouse fashion label Prada quietly bought an 80 percent share in an old Milan bakery. Pasticceria Marchesi, while being quite the establishment in Milan’s city centre, might well seem like an odd investment for a company whose main concern is expensive handbags and classy pantsuits.
So why would Prada buy an huge stake in a tiny pastry shop?
Well, firstly, this place oozes style (even their website is stylish as hell). Secondly, I mean, why the hell wouldn’t you buy a centuries-old pastry shop and have access to fresh Italian pastries 24/7? I feel Prada definitely made the right call here.
Pasticceria Marchesi was established way back in 1824, and is currently one of Milan’s oldest (and finest) pastry shops. The cafe’s original location, on Via S. Maria alla Porta, still stands today with the founding family running the business just like they did back in the old days. All of the pastries are still made by hand using very simple and fine ingredients from across Milan. The shop also serves beer and wine alongside their famed panettone cakes, delicately crafted chocolates and fresh coffee.
A new location on Via Monte Napoleone popped up recently, offering the same delectable treats as the original shop, but now in a bigger location.
Prada’s head honcho Miuccia Prada was born-and-bred in Milan, and this cafe seemingly reinforces the notion that this powerhouse fashionista wants to give back to her native city.
Just months prior to buying Pasticceria Marchesi, Prada opened the Prada Foundation – part art gallery, part cultural institution and part architectural wonder that sits right in the heart of the city – which is home to a quirky Wes Anderson themed cafe we’re all dying to check out.
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Though you’re unlikely to see Prada branding all over Pasticceria Marchesi’s walls, it’s subtly bringing in a little classy stamp here and there. Those colour combinations feel like they’ve come straight from Prada’s A/W collection, and you can just imagine fashionistas hanging out sipping their short macchiatos in between fashion shows. Everything’s so perfectly coordinated in terms of colours, chairs, wallpaper – even the pastries are in line. It’s beautiful.
This place is almost as sweet as that time Pantone opened a colour-coordinated cafe. Belissimo.
(Lead image: Prada)
