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Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Via Monte Napoleone and more: Explore Italy’s fashion capital’s most iconic places for shopping.
Sectors & Markets
04 September, 2025
Table of contents
The luxury goods market in Italy is expected to grow $19,85 billion by 2025 with a strong CAGR of 3,42% through 2030. The fashion capital of Italy, Milan, is at the centre of the growth. Bearing the flagships of Prada, Armani, Gucci, Versace and more, the city is spanning 1,37 million residents with a 41% of country’s highest purchasing power above the national average and 70% above the European continent average.
This convergence of heritage, wealth and tourism has fuelled the unmatched retail experience of Milan. Whether you are a trend enthusiast, cultural traveller or a luxury connoisseur, its departmental stores and shopping districts remain famous landmarks that have gone far beyond just retail, shaping the fashion culture on a global level.
Location: Piazza del Duomo, Milan
Origins & Design: Created by architect Giuseppe Mengoni, the Galleria was designed in 1861 and fully-constructed between 1865 and 1877, working as a monumental pedestrian connection between Piazza della Scala and Piazza del Duomo. The place’s diagonal glass-and-iron vaulted arcades confluence in a huge central octagon behind a rising dome, marking it as one of the early constructional prototypes for modern enclosed malls.
Cultural Standing: Often called Milan’s “drawing room” (salotto di Milano), the Galleria is renowned and celebrated for its architectural and historical grandeur.
Prada’s First Boutique: In 1913, Mario Prada unveiled the brand’s inaugural store within the Galleria, specifically for leather accessories and travel articles.
Notably, many original mahogany shelving units from the original era remain intact in the location.
Boutiques & Lifestyle Venues: The arcade continues to give its place for distinguished luxury retailers - Prada, Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent, Chanel, Louis Vuitton - along with heritage cafés and restaurants such as Caffè Camparino and Biffi, both deeply rooted and bounded in Galleria history.
Aesthetic Highlights: The interior’s glass-dome architecture, tiled mosaics, painted frescos and decorative details are the reasons for the gallery to be a shopping and cultural spectacle.
Location: Piazza del Duomo, Milan
Launched in 1865 by Luigi and Ferdinando Bocconi, La Rinascente began its journey as Milan’s first ready-to-wear clothing store on Via Santa Radegonda. Next year, the shop had over 100 tailors producing ready-made men’s suits.
Housed on Le Bon Marché in Paris, the company opened “Aux Villes d’Italie” in 1877, later renamed “Alle città d’Italia,” making it Italy’s first department store-style concept.
In 1917, the store was bought by Senator Borletti, who named it as “La Rinascente” - symbolising the store’s rebirth
- a concept created by poet Gabriele D’Annunzio.
After being destroyed by fire on Christmas Eve 1918, the Duomo flagship reopened in 1921 with an expanded layout, adding more amenities such as tea room, hair salon, post office and bank.
The Piazza Duomo store now spaces out to multiple floors offering fashion, home goods, jewellery, beauty, and gourmet items.
The most notable place is the 7th-floor food hall (Food Hall or Rinascente Food Hall
), which showcases a variety of cuisine under a terrace with undeniable views of the Duomo.
Dining venues like Il Bar provide panoramic views alongside dining and cocktails, open until midnight daily.
Rooftop Dining with Duomo Views - The food hall and terrace offering one of Milan’s prime vantage points.
Cultural Innovation - In the early 20th century, La Rinascente displayed avant-garde retail formats, such as fixed pricing and in-store amenities, setting retail standards in Milan.
A Nobility of Design - Over the decades, the store collaborated with designers such as Gio Ponti and focused on modernist interiors, winning a lasting cultural inspiration within Italy’s design heritage.
Location: Via Monte Napoleone, Via della Spiga, Via Manzoni, Via Sant’Andrea, Milan
The Quadrilatero della Moda, translates to Milan’s fashion quadrilateral, contains the four most prestigious luxury streets in the city: Via della Spiga, Via Monte Napoleone, Via Manzoni, and Corso Venezia. It’s widely recognised as the global high-end fashion retail square.
In 2024, Via Monte Napoleone reached a historic milestone by becoming the most expensive shopping street in the world, surpassing major locations such as New York’s Fifth Avenue. Annual retail rent prices reached €20,000 per square meter, an 11% YoY increase, marking as the first achievement for a European street in decades.
It houses the flagship stores of Giorgio Armani, Louis Vuitton, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Marni, Loewe, Prada, Gucci, Chanel, Fendi, and Bottega Veneta (notably with its stunning flagship on Via Sant’Andrea).
The district has accommodated flagship stores of global luxury brands like Prada, Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Cartier, Chanel, and Armani. These labels benefit a lot from the most concentrated foot traffic and top-tier visibility.
Footfall in this area is in massive numbers. In 2024, the Monte Napoleone District reported around 11 million visitors in a year and the average purchase value is approximately €2,500. Big brands generate up to €100 million in annual sales in their local flagships.
Global flagship boutiques focused in a compact remoteland, an ideal arrangement for luxury brand discovery.
Elaborate seasonal window displays that are being regularly changed to set the benchmarks.
Historic palazzi repurposed as elegant retail venues, integrated with museums and luxury hotels such as the Bagatti Valsecchi House-Museum and Bulgari Hotel.
Location: Corso Como, Porta Nuova district, Milan
Carla Sozzani, former editor-in-chief of Italian Elle and Vogue Italia, founded 10 Corso Como, which began as Galleria Carla Sozzani in 1990. It was a gallery space for art within a converted garage at the eponymous address.
It quickly changed into a pioneering concept store, connecting exhibition space with a café, fashion and design retail, a bookshop, hotel, and rooftop garden by 1991.
Constructed around the common principles of a "living magazine,” 10 Corso Como has set up a seamless merging between art, books, design, fashion, music, and gastronomy inside an immersive space, making it an early prototype for experiential retail.
Over time, it extended globally with partnerships and locations in Seoul, Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai and New York (for a brief time). Many global editions like these were developed in partnership with Trendy International Group and Comme des Garçons.
Today, the original location remains a living legacy of a multi-functional cultural hub displaying limited-edition collaborations, curated designer fashion, a renowned café, exhibition galleries, design objects, and a rooftop garden.
In 2025, it continued to shape the creative space of Milan, serving as a key venue during Milan Design Week, hosting pop-ups and immersive installations by designers such as Maison Martin Margiela x Gentle Monster and Yohji Yamamoto.
Cultural fusion: Art gallery, hotel, bookstore, café, fashion space, and rooftop lounge - all under one roof.
Editorial curation: A space created to feel like a living magazine.
Global influence: Stated as the model concept store by designers and retailers worldwide.
Creative hub: Continues to host collaborations and influential exhibitions still relevant in 2025.
Location: Palazzo Cagnola, Via Cusani 5, Brera, Milan
Antonia Giacinti established Antonia as an upscale accessories store in 1999. It soon expanded into women’s and men’s ready-to-wear, with co-founder Maurizio Purificato as the key responsible member. In 2013, the brand united its offerings under the historic Palazzo Cagnola roof in Brera district of Milan.
In 2022, Antonia unveiled a second Milan space at Via Sant’Andrea 10, spanning 750 m². This space, inside the new Portrait Milano lifestyle complex, continues to display the curated brand vision and places Antonia deeper within the Golden Triangle.
The boutique has adapted to be a multi–brand hub famously chosen by both fashion insiders and global buyers.
The interior of the shop is a thoughtful partnership with architect Vincenzo De Cotiis who blended historical architecture and modern minimalism harmoniously with textured surfaces, vaulted colonnades, plexiglass, marble, and raw finishes, creating a place that feels monumental and inviting simultaneously.
Antonia’s curation includes a distinctive collection of heritage luxury brands and budding avant-garde designers. Its influence has expanded well beyond Milan with flagship ventures in Hong Kong (K11, 2019), Macao (2016), and Wuhan (2021) mirroring its expanding global relevance.
The store frequently hosted exclusive collaborations with streetwear labels and international brands.
Located inside a 19th-century palazzo that combines modern retail and heritage architecture.
Polished brand curation showcasing established names and budding labels.
Interiors that merge contemporary design with historic elegance.
Milan’s luxury shopping experience is not limited to single flagships but goes across pioneering concept stores, historic arcades, and grand department halls. From Via Monte Napoleone’s global prestige to the eclectic merge of 10 Corso Como and Antonia, the city blends modernity, heritage, and exclusivity. This balance is the one that cements Milan’s position as one of the world’s most important luxury retail capitals.
Cover image: CN Traveler