Angelo Radaelli
For a hundred and thirty years, quality flowers have given beauty to the Milanese bourgeoisie and to characters of the caliber by Valentina Cortese and Maria Callas.
It was the end of the nineteenth century when Angelo Radaelli began selling flowers in Milan, from a Brianza nursery that is still active today. His son Giuseppe continued the activity until the beginning of the Second World War, then in the post-war period the shop in Via Manzoni became a landmark for the city’s good bourgeoisie. In the early sixties the company passed into the hands of the Sironi family, with Domenico taking over from Giuseppe Radaelli, who had no children or direct heirs. Domenico crowns the dream of guiding the activity he collaborated with for many years, having entered as a boy when he was very young. In the mid-seventies his son Marco enters, and nowadays he still oversees the work, admirably carried out by all three of his sons, Luca, Sara and Steven. Quality is one of the reasons for the long-lasting success. Many important characters of society loved this shop, like Maria Callas, who went here every time she passed by Milan. Even the late Valentina Cortese was a client, who sent her collaborators to get supplies daily from Radaelli. “She always phoned – Marco remembers – and sometimes went through the shop, she wanted white roses and she loved blue, in addition to her typical sand color”. Her bouquets are now proverbial , made by falling ribbons, made of simple flowers such as “nontiscordardime” and pastel-colored roses.