Living There
If you have money, you can be called a wealthy person, but if you know what to spend it for – you’re a lucky person. Nowadays outlet shopping becomes increasingly relevant, so both foreign and Italian shoppers have long time ago discovered huge benefits of making purchases there. For example, would you like to buy men’s Calvin Klein shoes for 60€ or bathing suit from D&G just for 10 €? Well, you can easily do it making shopping in any of Milan’s Outlets.
1. Serravalle Designer Outlet
Perhaps this is Milan’s most popular outlet. Upon arrival you’ll get a brochure with the map of the location of stores, where you can mark your favorite ones. Don’t hurry to buy everything at once. At first, check out your most desired brands, then set aside chosen items at least for an hour, and only after that finally make your purchases.
Advantages of Serravalle Outlet
– Plenty of shops (about 200 ones) in one place;
– The best selection of men’s luxurious clothing and footwear: exclusive shops like Alen Edmonds, Corneliani, Canali and Brioni;
– Availability of non-standard clothing sizes;
– Large selection of children’s brands;
– Excellent infrastructure (cafes, playgrounds, free parking);
– Great choice of shoes, casual and sportswear.
Disadvantages:
– Located 100 km away from Milan;
– Huge crowds and queues during the seasonal sales;
– Small variety of women’s luxurious and classic clothing;
– Irregular updating of product range.
2. Fox Town Outlet
It’s difficult to call it an Italian shopping, as the Fox Town Outlet is located on Swiss territory. But despite this, this outlet is easily reachable from Milan (1 hour drive by car). Fox Town is a hi-tech shopping complex with passages and multi-storey layout, so you can really get lost in it. Fox Town is perhaps the biggest outlet located near Milan and it consists of 250+ shops of Italian and international brands. The range of goods is just fantastic, while weekly updates contribute to really amazing shopping opportunities at any time of the year.
Advantages of Fox Town Outlet:
– Wide range of luxury brands. Hogan, Dior, Jil Sander, Fendi, Gucci and Tod’s are presented exclusively in this outlet;
– Frequently-updatable assortment of items;
– Located relatively close to Milan;
– Seasonal sales begin 2 weeks earlier than in Italy;
– Free Wi-Fi throughout the outlet.
– Tax-Free compensation inside;
– Wide selection of sizes;
– Best choice of evening designer’s clothing;
Disadvantages:
– Prices are a little higher than in Italy;
– It’s really possible to get lost even if you have a map;
– Little number of boutiques offering “casual” clothes.
3. Fidenza Village Outlet
This is one more “island of happiness” for irrepressible shopaholics. Fidenza Village is probably, one of the coziest Milan’s multi-brand outlets and it presents more than 100 different stores on the territory. This is a perfect shopping spot for those who like to make purchases without bustle and hustle, because the outlet is usually not crowded. Designed as a straight street with stand-alone stores, Fidenza Village is very simple for getting around it.
Advantages of Fidenza Village Outlet:
– Clothing from Italian designers’ brands: high quality goods at affordable rates;
– Wide assortment of accessories: both for women and men;
– Easy and convenient location of the stores;
– Exclusive brands – Marni, Bolgeri (Zegna), Fossil and Paul Smith;
Disadvantages:
– Small number of stores;
– Bad choice of luxury brands;
– Located 108 km away from Milan.
4. Vicolungo the Style Outlets
It’s impossible to imagine Milanese shopping without visiting the Vicolungo and the Diffusione Tessile Outlets. These outlets appeared quite recently, but every year the number of their stores rapidly increases, and who knows, maybe 5 years later they will surpass Serravalle in many ways. Vicolungo Outlets are located 40-minutes’ drive from Milan and offer both luxurious and “mainstream” clothing brands. The prices don’t differ much from Fidenza Village’ rates.
Advantages of Vicolungo Outlets:
– 2 outlets in 1 place;
– Excellent selection of children’s clothing and men’s casual brands;
– Proximity to Milan;
– Good infrastructure: there are ateliers, cafes, children’s playgrounds;
– Wide range of cheap brands offering excellent quality goods.
Disadvantages:
– Small amount of footwear brands;
– Almost complete absence of luxurious clothing brands (except for Armani, Missoni and Cavalli).
5. Franciacorta Outlet Village
This is the last Milan’s outlet that desperately competes for the first place with Serravalle. As Vicolungo, it was established just few years ago and offers to its visitors very attractive prices which are often much lower than in Serravalle, even during the sales. You can enjoy there more than 100 stores of clothes, shoes, and 40 shops of accessories and underwear. Franciacorta Outlet offers such services like spa and beauty salons. Numerous cafes and restaurants are also at your disposal.
Advantages of Franciacorta Outlet Village:
– Fast-developing outlet with good infrastructure;
– The prices are lower than in the other outlets (with Village Card your discount increases up to10%).
Disadvantages:
– Poor choice of luxurious brands;
– Located far from Milan (97 km).
Well, shopping in Milan’s outlets has its own positive and negative points, but despite this, it’s a great alternative to the usual shops and malls. Outlets offer hundreds of boutiques for any taste in one place, so you have a much wider choice of items and often discount rates. The general disadvantage of all Milan’s outlets is their distant location from the city, but actually, there is no problem about it. You can rent a car at any convenient location of Milan and easily get to any of the mentioned above outlets.
Author Bio: Lily Berns is a travel writer and she tries to find the best and brightest things to do, while you travel in Europe, especially in Italy.
