Ciao, My Gorgeous Darlings!
Two weeks ago, I packed my LUC8K Weekender, treated myself to a pair of expensive sunglasses (don’t tell my partner Geoff, he would go crazy!), squeezed my ridiculously long legs into yet another business class seat designed for someone approximately half my height, and hot hoofed it off to Florence, Italy.
I’ve been to Italy before quite a few times, actually. I love the food, the people, the handsome young waiters (again, don’t tell Geoff I said this!), but I had never been to Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance.
When the LUC8K team told me about this trip, I was the happiest giraffe in the world!
Florence is a city that has taken my heart and made it burst with love. It is the spiritual Italian home of artisans, architects, artists, designers and perfectionists. It is home to people who know that simply building a door isn’t good enough. They would rather spend years making that door magnificent something to be admired for generations.
I have always been intrigued by Florence because there is something about it that makes you look twice at everything.
I love details. It’s why I am the perfect non-human to talk about these things, and it’s why I work with LUC8K.
In Florence, I found myself staring at a door handle for ten minutes, wondering how long it took to make such a small, seemingly insignificant thing so exquisite. Sophie In Florence - 15 Sep 2026
Florence Doesn’t Do Subtle
I adore this place.
The buildings are magnificent. Ancient sculptures are everywhere. The churches are awe-inspiring. I don’t believe in God, but I do believe in humanity and all the amazing things you two legged fellow inhabitants of our planet are capable of.
I wandered around Florence with my neck craned so far upwards that I’ll probably need expensive physiotherapy when I get back home to Botswana.
A luxury, no expense spared spa day may also be required.
But if that is the price of properly absorbing the finer details in life, then so be it.
The beautiful old streets are full of texture, colour and extraordinary architecture. I had my favourite LUC8K Tote with me, although I probably should have brought my favourite hat and a pair of sensible shoes too.
Everywhere I went, there was something worth stopping for: a piece of stonework, a decorative feature, a tiny detail somebody hundreds of years ago had decided was worth getting not just right but perfect.
And that’s when Florence got me.
Because I’ve always been rather partial to details and the finer things in life, as you know, my darlings!
A handbag can be a perfectly ordinary handbag.
Or it can be something else entirely.
It can be yours, and only yours. It can be bespoke. It can be made by hand but designed by you.
The perfect colour. The right stitching. The right texture. Those little personal details that make you think:
“This is truly mine.”
I don’t do subtle, darlings.
Florence doesn’t do subtle.
And neither does LUC8K.
That is why I adore both. Sophie In Florence - 15 Sep 2026
A City Built by People Who Cared
One of the things that struck me most about Florence is how much of the city feels handmade.
Of course, the world is different now. Machines and modern technology are everywhere.
But walking around Florence, I was surrounded by evidence of people who knew their craft.
Leather workers. Goldsmiths. Stoneworkers. Sculptors. Architects. Painters.
And really handsome chefs.
People who spent years even decades learning how to do one thing exceptionally well.
I adore that because we live in a world where everything seems to be getting faster.
Fast fashion. Fast trends. Fast production.
Florence feels like the antidote.
Here, you have no choice but to slow down.
Breathe.
Look around.
Be inspired.
And appreciate beautiful things made by people who cared enough to decide that every tiny detail mattered. Sophie In Florence - 15 Sep 2026
The School of Leather
Obviously, I couldn’t fly all the way to Florence without learning more about leather.
That would be like flying me business class to Paris and expecting me not to look at handbags or shoes.
Florence has a centuries old relationship with leather craftsmanship, so I went looking for people who still make things properly the traditional way.
That brought me to the Scuola del Cuoio the Leather School behind Santa Croce.
And what an incredible place!
I trotted through an old monastery and suddenly found myself somewhere completely different.
Quiet. Beautiful. A little mysterious.
In the middle of all that extraordinary history were people actually sitting down and making things with their hands.
Pieces of leather were everywhere. Different colours. Different textures. Tools. Workbenches. And artisans who clearly knew exactly what they were doing.
I watched someone cutting leather by hand and became fascinated by how much concentration goes into something that, to the untrained eye, might look like a simple piece of leather.
But that’s the thing, isn’t it?
Simple isn’t necessarily simple.
A perfect stitch doesn’t just happen.
A beautiful edge doesn’t cut and shape itself.
And a colour combination that looks effortless probably required a great deal of thought.
It reminded me of something I see every day at LUC8K.
The finished bag is the part everyone sees.
But the real story is everything that happens before it.
The choices.
The passion.
The materials.
The patience.
And yes the blood, sweat, tears and occasional tantrum! Sophie In Florence - 15Sep 2026 Sophie In Florence - 15 Sep 2026
The Scuola del Cuoio was founded in 1950 by Florentine leather artisans Marcello Gori and Silvano Casini, working with the Franciscan friars of Santa Croce. Its original purpose was to teach war orphans a practical craft they could use to make a living.
Standing in that old Florentine workshop, surrounded by leather and history, I suddenly thought:
This is what luxury is supposed to feel like.
Not louder.
Not bigger.
Just more intentional.
And perhaps that’s why I felt so at home there.
Although, obviously, I was still the tallest and only giraffe in the room.
Some things never change. 😉 Sophie In Florence - 15 Sep 2026
The Problem With Perfect
Here’s another thing Florence got me thinking about.
Humans are obsessed with perfection.
Everything has to be identical. Every product has to look the same. Every photograph gets edited. Every face gets filtered. Every handbag has to resemble the handbag everybody else is carrying.
But why?
Who decided identical was better?
I’ve never understood it.
I’ve spent my entire life standing out.
I’m a giraffe. It’s not exactly something I can avoid.
Perhaps that’s why I understand individuality and why I like the idea that no two LUC8Ks have to be exactly the same.
Your colours can be yours.
Your details and lucky numbers can be yours.
Your airport code can be yours.
And, in the end, your story can be yours to own and treasure forever.
The things we keep for years usually aren't the things we bought simply because everybody else had them.
They’re the things that mean something to us. Sophie In Florence - 15 Sep 2026
Sometimes, It’s the Little Things
By the end of my Florence trip, I realised I had stopped photographing the big things.
I had become obsessed with tiny details.
The edge of a building.
A worn piece of stone.
A shop window.
A piece of leather.
A colour combination I had never thought of putting together.
A door handle.
A tiny decorative feature that most people probably walked straight past.
And I loved that.
Maybe that’s the secret.
We spend so much time looking for the big things that we forget to notice the little things that make life special.
That’s true of design.
It’s true of cities and clothes.
It’s true of people.
Sometimes, it’s the little things that stay with you: the texture of a material, the tiny imperfections, an unexpected colour combination, or stitching that is just right.
The things you only notice when you stop rushing.
Maybe that’s why I love travelling so much.
It teaches you to look again at the things most humans take for granted. Sophie In Florence - 15 Sep 2026
Until Next Time, Darlings
So, Florence has taught this long legged fashionista a few things.
Take your time. Look closer. Don’t be afraid to stand out. And never underestimate the little things.
Because sometimes the difference between ordinary and extraordinary is only a few millimetres.
And that’s what LUC8K has been saying all along.
It’s not just about what you carry.
It’s about what you carry with you.
Your colours.
Your memories.
Your adventures.
Your individuality.
Your story.
And, if you’re lucky, a very beautiful bag.
Now, I have to trot off.
I’ve got one last Italian coffee to drink, dinner reservations, a bottle of something fizzy calling my name, and a pair of Italian shoes that I absolutely refuse to admit I don’t know how to walk in.
Oh and approximately 400 photographs to send to Karen, most of which appear to contain either a building or my enormous backside.
Florence, you have been beautiful.
And you’ve reminded me of something I probably already knew.
The devil really is in the details.
Ciao for now.
Sophie xxx
LUC8K Global Ambassador, Globe Trotting Fashionista, Lover of Fine Leather, Collector of Beautiful Things and Officially the Tallest Woman in Florence. Sophie In Florence - 15 Sep 2026