Fashionable Brera

Only a few years ago Brera was known as the ‘ Montmartre’  of Milan, a romantic, old fashioned neighbourhood with small vegetable shops and bakeries and traditional trattorie with ‘grandmother’s kitchen’.  Over the last years Brera has become one of Milan’s most trendy areas full of design shops and lounge bars.

With its narrow winding, cobbled streets and old palazzi, Brera is one of the most characteristic and romantic places of Milan.

Pinacoteca di Brera

It has developed around the Palazzo Brera. Once a Jesuit convent, it now houses the world famous Art Gallery ‘Pinacoteca di Brera’ with works of Mantegna, Caravaggio, Piero della Francesca, Raffaello, Tintoretto, Rembrandt and Rubens.

Restyling

Over the last years, Brera has had a restyling, especially around Corso Como. It has changed from a busy street with small industry, workshops and food shops, to a large, traffic free boulevard with fashion and design shops, trendy restaurants, lounge bars and street cafes.

Corso Como

The epicenter of the area is 10 Corso Como, a store/bar/restaurant/art gallery, all in one. From fashionable slippers to a refreshing smoothie and from a stylish work of art to unusual coffee cups, you can all find it here. It is by far the most trendy place of Brera and probably of Milan.

Street cafes

The street cafes of Corso Como are busy from lunch time till late night with mostly fashionably dressed Milanese, expats and international art and design students from the prestigious Accademia di Brera.

Aperitivo

Especially at the ‘Happy Hour’, (around 6.00 – 8.00 p.m.) the tables are highly occupied. Brera is one of the most popular places for aperitivo, a drink and unlimited snacks offered on the bar, from simple (but always stylish) olives and sandwiches to pasta, risotto and salads.

Expat living

The neighborhood is also a popular neighborhood among trendy and ambitious Milanese and expats to live. It one of the more expensive areas of Milan, but at only five minutes walking from Piazza Duomo. The apartments are often larger and more luxurious than in other historic areas.

Expo 2015

Brera will become even more fashionable with the Expo 2015. ‘Fashion City’ will rise here in the Porta Garibaldi area. An ambitious project dedicated to fashion, with a museum of Italian fashion, fashion stores and a university department for style, fashion and design.

Photo: Fleur de Ron – Zanini