Lizzie OsterkampElizabeth (Lizzie) Osterkamp, a young student from California and a fashion, travel and photography enthusiast, is fulfilling one of her dreams during her studies in Strategic Communication (University of Colorado, USA): to get to know – and be able to tell about – her experience in one of the world’s fashion cities, discovering her favourite fashion brands. Here she tells us about the Rinascente House of Brands, between fashion, beauty and food.

“I walked into Rinascente and ultimately felt at home, as it felt like I was in a department store located in the United States. Rinascente offers a wide range of brands ranging from designer brands like Gucci and Louis Vuitton to ready-to-wear brands like Levi’s and Ray Bans. The store is located next to the beautiful Duomo. This is the original location of the department store when it opened in 1865 and is considered the flagship store. The store stands 10 floors high with food and drinks on the top floor with views of the Duomo.

The main level is filled with makeup and perfumes from all different brands, and from there, I took the escalator up and down to view the other floors. The building is a maze, and some areas have bridges leading to other sections, but it is worth it with the amount of inventory they have. Some of the floors house designer purses and accessories, and other floors include women’s and men’s designer clothes, shoes and much more. Some brands like Dolce and Gabbana, Versace and Gucci have a children’s section where they sell children’s clothes and some baby accessories.
Another feature at this department store that I found appealing was the skincare and beauty section, where you can find different brands of skincare and a variety of services. If you forget your face wash or need anything beauty related, I recommend looking in this section. The services within this area include a lash and brow bar, a nail bar, a facial station and a blow dry bar.
The top floor houses the food and drink options, and you can choose from a variety of options depending on what you want to eat. If you are looking for restaurants with a view of the Duomo, The Maio Restaurant, the Obicà Mozzarella Bar and Il Bar all offer seating with a view.

There are also restaurants that serve Japanese, steak, and one restaurant serves over 200 different variations of sandwiches. If you are looking for a quicker option or take away options, they offer coffee, a bar to purchase drinks, a food market, a winery and Italian and international chocolates and pastries.”