Roman souvenirs are getting younger: Rometone, ElvisLives & more

At From Home to Rome, we’ve already delved into the shopping alternatives for buying unique souvenirs, but we’ve also talked about some local phenomenons that are “freshening up” the scene (“Rome is more”, which we discussed here).

In this new post, we’d like to focus on the latter, and on the young companies rejuvenating the image of the city… by way of tote bags, mugs and t-shirts!

Rome is More… and its siblings

So if you’ve been following this blog, you’ll already know that this young company has products in a number of shops in the city center. You can buy different items (also online) which distinguishing feature is founder Carolina Venosi’s humorous attempt at explaining (in English) some of Romanesco’s most famous expressions. And if you’d like to see the whole collection with your own eyes, know that Rome is More has a shop of its own on Via Mastro Giorgio, 31 (Testaccio area).

Rome is More is not the only place that dismantles the old-fashioned idea of souvenirs with the city’s legendary sense of humour: Romans laugh at stuff that would be considered offensive, or impolite to point out. The result mixes profanities and irony in a way that is probably out of your comfort zone. However, if you really want to understand someone from Rome (or Italy), the way in is is through what that makes them laugh!

ElvisLives: pop-culture extraordinaires

Enter ElvisLives. Established in 2009, this tiny shop on Via di San Francesco a Ripa, 27, in the heart of Trastevere, started out as a clothing store. The real step up happened when the guys here started designing stationery items, posters and more objects that use traditional sayings or allude to pop culture in a way only a Roman would. There are tote bags celebrating Roman cuisine‘s penchant for deep frying, pens stating the obvious truth about locals – i.e. that they’re masters at procrastinating! – or even homages to the Roman cobblestones. Beware: if you are easily offended, this is probably not the shop for you!

FHate Off: where feminism and dark humor collide

The same warning holds true for this female-owned shop in the Centocelle area (on Via delle Rose, 36b) which online store is hosted on Etsy. The more radical among this new wave of Roman memorabilia makers, Fhate Off’s items are for the most part patches, some of them with direct references to feminism, female empowerment, the political pulse in Italy, but also pop culture shout-outs and yes, the usual profanities heard and seen in the streets of the Eternal City since time immemorial.

Rometone: Pantone and design-obsessed!

The guys at Rometone may offer a smaller range of Roman-inspired products, but they do so with a different approach. For one, they seem as Pantone-obsessed as we are, so don’t be surprised if you see that their catalogue offers socks that are “Rosa Mortazza” (“Mortadella pink”, for the uninitiated to the Roman jargon). The latest to appear in the city, RomeTone offers tote bags and t-shirts celebrating famous local foods or staples of our culture – like, indeed, binging on watermelon in the summer, or enjoying carbonara… pretty much year-round!

You can find some of their items here, or in some of Rome’s best museums (for instance at the Galleria Nazionale di Arte Moderna).

Cosafarearoma: minimalist prints and postcards

Finally, Cosafarearoma is an online portal devoted to all “things to do in Rome” (the literal translation of their company name) but in recent time the website has doubled its operation by opening a now popular web shop selling prints, postcards, posters… All of which have in common a minimalist design that is used to portray Rome’s landmarks (those that are famous, with some surprising and lesser known ones thrown in for good measure, too) in a different and modern way. Again, many of Cosafarearoma’s products can be found in museum gift shops and local bookstores.