The Gondolier Association of Venice – which represents Venice’s 433 licensed gondoliers – now has a sponsor : Al Duca D’Aosta, the Venetian clothing group founded in 1902 by Emilio Ceccato, so the Gondolier Association have created an official logo and Enter the Dream uniform brand to symbolize the trade the world recognizes as the symbol of Venice.
It’s their way of giving back to a city that has given much to many for centuries.
The decision to brand their trade was made as an effort to support their city and its specialty trades (oar makers, gondola makers, schools for apprentice artisans and gondoliers, and more) which struggle to keep Venice’s centuries-old traditions alive in today’s socio-economic environment.
The logo: Saint Mark as the Winged Lion holding an open book, a symbol of peace and strength, is framed by two ferro – the traditional iron gondola prow ornament which represents the hat of the Doge (once the ruler of the Most Serene Republic of Venice), the Rialto Bridge, the Grand Canal, Venice’s six neighborhoods or sestieri, and her main islands. A logo that salutes the history and the spirit of Venice and her gondoliers.
The Gondolier Association will invest all royalties earned from the sale of each official item – red and white or blue and white striped t-shirts, polo shirts and sweaters, black or dark blue dress pants, winter vests and ribboned-straw hats – in projects in the city of Venice which safeguard the gondolier trade and artisan trades that surround the gondola and the Venetian rowing style tradition.
