leather jacket in Florence

frog72, this is the only shop we went in, so I have no comparison, but we were happy with our purchases and the variety & quality: Massimos Leather It was not cheap, but I had some confidence it was good quality compared to the cheap imported stuff st the stalls in the open market. The shop was full of American university students, so it must be the place they go by word of mouth.

We bought a leather jacket near a church and the school where they teach leather work. We also bought two of them David's Leather in Florence. They measured us, made them and them shipped them to us. They are not cheap but should last a lifetime if you take care of them. We bought ours a few years ago (summer 2019) and I can't remember what we paid but they were our big purchase from Italy.

Thank you for responses. Couldn't find David's in Florence and still wondering about approx. price to pay at Massimos?
The school for leather sounds very interesting...may have to stop there.

frog72, I think my jacket was around 350-400€. Yes that was not cheap, but no regrets. You'll have time to comparison shop. Do some research on it. I think there were several other leather shops in that neighborhood. If I had known about the school, i'd have gone there first. And you have the advantage of a strong dollar.

I remember shopping for a nice leather jacket in Florence. The prices were WAY out of line. Came home and found a fantastic leather jacket for half what they were selling for in Florence.

I stayed in an apartment on Via del Corso a few years ago, and there was a David’s shop right below me.
Just in from Via Calzuaoli.

Be aware that most "Italian" tourist goods like Murano glass and leather actually come from China, just like everywhere else in the world. Trust but verify.

Pared, if you get the Murano glass with the official logo, it’s made in Italy. If you pay more for leather, it would likely me made in Italy. If it’s cheaper, it’s not likely to be made in Italy.

Sure, you might be able to find a jacket at home cheaper, but then, you didn’t get it in Italy.

On advice I went to the leather school in Florence they made a jacket for me and shipped it a few months later it is beautiful will last a lifetime it is near a church really worth looking into

The Leather School would be the best place to get a truly artisan made leather jacket.

Years ago my wife did a personal shopper guided tour with Maren Erickson, a US ex-pat living in Florence. She was an incredible resource and helped my wife find truly wonderful, artisan made shoes, bags and a jacket.

https://florenceshop4it.com/

She told us then that Florence was slowly being overtaken by cheap chinese made goods that may be using Florentine leather or having the last bit of work done in Italy to allow it to have a made in Italy label. In the years since, this process has accelerated with many stores having factories on the outskirts of town that employ immigrant labor to make their goods. Needless to say, this puts a huge amount of price pressure on the local guild craftspeople.

Maren only took us to small shops where the goods were made by true Florentine craftspeople. My wife found her leather jacket here…

https://www.peruzzifirenze.com

We bought jackets and purses at Michaelangelo florentine leather. It’s a store near the market but on a side street. Not those kiosks or market stands. They are fake. Michaelangelo speaks fluent English and is the owner.

https://www.michelangeloflorentineleather.it/index.html

If you google search Michaelangelo’s store you will see the reviews too. My jacket 6 years later is still beautiful and in style. My purses are great and still in style. Classic quality.

Be aware and avoid stores frequented by tour groups, cruises or buses. Our friends swore by some place near the river. We went over there to check it out and it was a definite TT kickback to tour companies. We didn’t tell our friends that their place was a ripoff, but just said Michaelangelo had what we were looking for.

Ps. I just went to Michaelangelo’s website and looked at photos. Rick Steves was there in a picture. I feel very validated. Hahahaha.

Being "near a church" is little help in Italy with many churches everywhere.

Go to the piazza di Santa Croce and when facing the Basilica di Santa Croce, walk down the left side of the “church”, and you will see the entrance to the leather school on your right (Sculio del Cuoio). It’s a bit of a walk through a couple courtyards but it is well marked. I bought a red leather wallet there. We did not find leather coats that we liked but they did have some nice ones and some sales. We also stopped at Misuri leather on the south side of the piazza di Santa Croce. A very nice woman showed us a goat skin jacket for my husband but that’s not what we were looking for. She wouldn’t tell us a price until we were ready to buy. “She would give us a good price”… we left there and went to Michelangelos by Mercado Central which was recommended above. He was great! He has patents and designed all the coats in the store and as good as his coats were he is an even better salesman lol. We really enjoyed our experience with him and felt like we left with a new friend. Great Italian experience and yes my husband did purchase a beautiful leather coat from him!