EXCLUSIVE VENICE: When it's worth spending more

• Unique artworks, tableware, and jewelry from Murano glass;
• Luxurious fabrics for your home;
• Exclusive fragrances for yourself or as a gift;
• A personal taste of Venetian Carnival — any time of year.

Let’s start with masks and costumes. Most of what’s sold on every corner is mass-produced, often in China, and has little to do with real craftsmanship. Skip the flashy stalls and head straight to Cannaregio, to the Sogno Veneziano atelier.

Here they make traditional masks and sew carnival costumes using the same techniques as two centuries ago. You can choose a ready-made piece or request a custom design — even from afar, by sending in your measurements and ideas.

But what’s a mask without a proper occasion to wear it? The atelier owner has that covered too: from a romantic gondola date or a private photoshoot to a full-blown costume party in true Venetian style — worthy of Jeff Bezos himself.

If you’re curious about Murano glass, we suggest three addresses that stand out even in a city full of glassmakers.

The Seguso family workshop has been known on Murano since the 15th century. Their chandeliers grace palaces, hotels, and museums around the world, and their vases regularly appear at Christie’s auctions. These are no trinkets, but catalogued art objects with a signature and a story — small pieces go for hundreds, large ones for thousands

For lovers of modern design, there's Spazio Sent — the flagship store of Marina e Susanna Sent, located on Murano island. The space looks more like the Guggenheim than a boutique. The Sent sisters, descendants of a long glassblowing tradition, work at the intersection of heritage and minimalism. Their glass jewelry, tableware, and sculptures are regularly featured in Italian and international exhibitions.

One more gem: Genninger Studio, in the heart of Venice’s “museum mile” on Dorsoduro. Here you’ll find Leslie Ann Genninger, an American artist who’s been living and creating in Venice for almost 40 years. Her studio attracts collectors and interior designers; her glass artworks are part of collections from Elton John to Donald Trump, from the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas to New York’s Museum of Arts and Design.

Carnival, gondolas, Murano — those are the usual suspects when it comes to Venice. But did you know the city was once Europe’s capital of textiles and perfume?

Tessitura Luigi Bevilacqua is one of the last remaining mills in Europe where velvet is still woven by hand — on 18th-century wooden looms. The pace is slow (just 40 cm per day!), but the result is pure splendor: their fabrics decorate Vatican walls, opera stages, and designer furniture. If you’re dreaming of Venetian velvet for your own home, visit the Mario Bevilacqua store — the retail arm of this family-run weaving house founded in the late 1400s, when Europe was just discovering new continents.

Inspired by the same Age of Discovery, the local company Mavive created The Merchant of Venice — a perfume brand that revives old Venetian formulas and presents them as high fragrance theater. Scents come in Murano-glass flacons; boutiques are filled with carved wood and antiques. There’s even a perfume museum in a 17th-century palazzo, and a laboratory where you can create a custom scent of your own.

Venice is generous with emotions and never lets you leave empty-handed. Now you know how to take away something truly valuable: an exclusive experience and a piece that becomes part of your own story. Enjoy it!