Were I to stumble into a forgotten room full of old Louis Vuitton steamer trunks in a Florentine villa, this is exactly what I would hope to find in them.

From “Twenty-One Dresses,” The New Yorker, March 23, 2015.

The article, by Jessamyn Hatcher and Pari Dukovic, gives a concise but detailed history of these dresses from one of the most influential and most widely forgotten Belle Epoque couturiers. It also explores the conservation required for such intricate textiles. This is the intersection of so many of my greatest interests—fashion history, preservation, villas! I can only imagine the thrill of making this discovery, and the enormous responsibility on those assigned to care for the dresses.

Florence has been on my list of travel destinations for a long time, and this pushes it straight to the top.