Adventures in high fashion: Sugar

Where I live I’m surrounded by three-wheeled Ape trucks, nonne in housecoats, and farmers in “onesie” jumpsuits on tractors. The last thing I expected to find is that I am near one of the fashion meccas of the world: Beppe Angiolini’s remarkable store, Sugar, in Arezzo. Another surprise is that an expat friend I’ve made in the village is also an ex-fashionista with serious cred in the fashion world and has become my guide and interpreter of this foreign universe. Or at least foreign to me, who has always been slightly terrified of high fashion.

This savvy woman used to be one of the key executives at Neiman-Marcus where she helped discover brands, including bringing Prada into the limelight. Then she moved to Italy to turn Gucci around with Tom Ford. So when she raves about Beppe and his store, and why it is important, I listen.

Luxury brands control every aspect of how their collections are displayed and sold. They go to market through their own stores or through branded sections of stores that carry many different lines. There is no mingling between Chloe and Alexander Wang in the racks at Barneys. If a store buys a collection, they buy the whole thing. Apparently there’s only one guy with enough clout to pick individual items from collections and art direct his own mix, and that’s Beppe, who opened Sugar in the 1980s.

Beppe Angiolini from TheSartorialist.com

He recently restored the ancient Palazzo Lambardi in Arezzo and relocated his store from across the street. The mix of lighting, mirrors, video, and modern furniture with the ancient frescoed walls makes one of the most fascinating architectural spaces I’ve seen. During restoration they discovered several rooms with Roman mosaic floors which they have skillfully incorporated with raised glass floors. In this stark space is a startling juxtaposition with a cluster of mannequins sporting the latest look.

Particularly after the demise of the store Colette in Paris, Sugar is now even more of an international destination. They will be opening rooms to stay in on the top floor, and have a small caffe with seriously good coffee.

And no, I am no more fashionable than before. But at least I know where I can work on it. And if you are so inclined, they have a serious online store at Sugar.it.