A Magnificent Razor Museum Everyone Should Know About: Collezione G. Lorenzi in Milan
Collezione G. Lorenzi: a noble heritage telling the passion for pogonotomy
In Milan, in the celebrated "street in fashion" Via Montenapoleone, there is one of the most renowned knife shops of the city, a remarkable and significant place listed among the historical shops of Milan. An important story written with passion by the Lorenzi family, having its roots in Trentino Alto Adige and with a long heritage in cutlery and honing.
In Via Montenapoleone, at number 9, it is in fact located the revered Lorenzi shop, established in 1929 by Giovanni Lorenzi, in the year of the "Wall Street Crash" which led to the worldwide "Great Depression". Here we still find remarkable signs of what the family business has been since then: knives and razors. The shop itself is a lovely place, selling modern straight razors as well as soaps, strops, after shaves and everything a traditional wet shaver would dream of.
The Lorenzi shop is more than this. Here, in a separate entrance, however at number 9, there is also the most important and rich museum of the world dedicated to the razor, an exhibition of razors and shaving related items Giovanni Lorenzi – the founder of the shop and cutlery - started collecting in the 1930s. The collection is now kept with a remarkable passion and competence by his son Franco Lorenzi, who has been successful in collecting more than 4,000 razors and shave related items, including blade grinders and other accessories, as well as more than 4,000 documents and patents, all related to razors and their history.
The Lorenzi family is committed to the spreading of history and culture of shaving since a very long time: it is not by chance the members of this family also wrote some books about this art. In particular, Mrs. Edda Chiodini Lorenzi translated into Italian the famous book by Jean Jacques Perret "La pogonotomie, ou L'art d'apprendre à se raser soi-même", whereas Franco Lorenzi is the author of two books "Coltelli in cucina e a tavola" (Kitchen and Table Knives) as well as a beautiful book about the history of shaving and the art of wet shaving "Rasoi e lame – barbe e baffi" (Razors and Blades – Beards and Mustaches). This latter book is incredibly rich in pictures, most of them about the items exhibited in the museum. Moreover, Aldo Lorenzi – Franco's brother – also wrote a book about the history of the family business "That shop in Via Montenapoleone", a very interesting book about the history of Italian cutlery and honing, told through the story of the Lorenzi family. Unfortunately, these books are currently out of print.
During my last business trip, I finally had the chance and time to visit the "Collezione G. Lorenzi". The museum has been started in 1996 by Franco Lorenzi and I know about it since the day I bought his book "Rasoi e Lame – Barbe e Baffi", about eight years ago. Despite the fact I often travel to Milan, I have never had the chance to visit this wonderful museum and, on this regard, I regret I did not do it before. What a remarkable experience it is! A wet shaver's paradise, an endless source of history and art, a place every wet shaver should visit at least once.
Visiting the museum is very easy: all you need to do is to call Lorenzi shop and ask for a visit: they are very kind and everyone is welcome to a visit. By the way, the entrance to the museum is free, but it must be scheduled upon a phone call and this is what I did.
When I arrived to the museum, Mr. Franco Lorenzi was there to give us a warm and cheerful welcome. He is the type of man you would call a gentleman: very kind and gentle, he has a gorgeous beard you would not tell he can be someone who can collect razors, however, he has a huge knowledge about razors and history of shaving. Mr. Franco Lorenzi is a brilliant and kind gentleman, a genuine storyteller with a natural talent to entertain people: you can easily get charmed by his eloquent speech as well as by his cheerful attitude to make sure you are having a good time.
When you enter the museum, the view is simply breathtaking: thousands of razors neatly organized in shelves, each of them showing razors of a particular era, type and country, all of them being in an absolutely gorgeous condition. Everything you can imagine about the art of shaving can be found in this place, although, it must be said, the museum is mainly focused on double and single edge razors, both for men and women. Moreover, here you can see the very first prototype of an electric shaver as well as of safety razors. Last but not the least, a perfect replica of the famous "rasoir à rabot", the one invented by Jean Jacques Perret and being the very first attempt of creating a safe straight razor.
Mr. Franco Lorenzi offered us a chair and we sat around a table having a glass on top of it and through it you can see a remarkable selection of items giving you an idea of a "short history of shaving". Inside of this table you can in fact see historical razors – including prehistorical ones – straight razors of different eras, as well as significant examples of double edge razors. Here Mr. Franco Lorenzi tells us about the history of his family and business, as well as his personal history, beginning from Trentino Alto Adige, the northern Italian region where his family is from. Mr. Franco Lorenzi is a genuine gentleman who also served the Italian army in the "alpini", the elite soldiers of the Italian army specialized in mountain warfare and, you guess it, who usually grow a long beard. Mr. Franco Lorenzi is no exception to this.
He was so kind and polite to give us precious information about the history of shaving and the history of the museum: it is amazing to listen to him while he tells about the many habits of the world about shaving and the history of shaving.
Time to watch the many razors – here are exhibited more than 4,000 razors and accessories – and I was in particular impressed when Mr. Lorenzi told me he collected the documents of about 4,200 patents about razors from all over the world, all of them neatly organized in folders.
The show of the countless razors is really impressive and Mr. Franco Lorenzi has a story to tell for each of them: information about the maker, era, use and the principles from which each razor was conceived and designed. A truly educational and instructive visit and listening to Mr. Franco Lorenzi eloquent narration is a real joy.
In this museum there is also beautiful miniature replica of two barber shops: a classic American shop and a Neapolitan style shop; tiny but with an impressive care of details as it seems to be right there, sitting on the chair waiting for the barber to give you a glorious shave.
At the end of the visit there is something I am sure of: I will certainly go there and visit the museum again as one visit is clearly not enough to see and get a proper idea of all the huge number of items exhibited in this place. And there is also something else I am sure of: to tell every wet shaver how amazing is to go and visit this place at least once. You will not regret the time spent here in company of Mr. Franco Lorenzi while watching remarkable pieces of the history of shaving which are, after all, remarkable parts of the history of civilization and humanity.
My personal gratitude to Mr. Franco Lorenzi for his kindness, time and hospitality, last but not the least, for the incredible passion he put in collecting shave items from all over the world, by continuing the collection started by his father Giovanni Lorenzi. The "Collezione G. Lorenzi" is a place of culture, a place in which the history of shaving and civilization is being celebrated, an incredible heritage telling the history of man and his genius. Also for this reason, every wet shaver should be grateful to the Lorenzi family and Mr. Franco Lorenzi for allowing everyone to enjoy this remarkable place full of history and noble art.
For more information about "Collezione G. Lorenzi" and to book for a visit, I suggest you reading the page at this link: G. Lorenzi - 1929 Coltellinaio -
