Pitti Uomo: Good news from Florence
The new fashion year begins in an unintended way, but with a pinch of optimism.
The Pitti Uomo Male Fair, which traditionally inaugurates the season in Florence, has experienced a rapid conversion.The guest of honor, Ann Demeulemeester, canceled her event planned last week.Brunello Cucinelli, one of the main exhibitors of the fair, also retired at the last minute.In Milan, where male fashion week begins on Friday, the parades calendar is remarkably empty.In addition, Paris juggle the parades, digital presentations and appointments with the exhibition rooms the following week.
For the Chinese and the Japanese, among others, it is still difficult to travel.Russian visitors and exhibitors, on the other hand, are limited by their vaccine, Sputnik, which is not yet recognized in Europe.
But in Florence there was also good news.
The Fair atmosphere was good, both in the dance hall of Palazzo Pitti, from the fifteenth century, where an unusual event was organized on Wednesday night: a presentation in the style of Ru Paul's Drag Race, in charge of the designerFinn Ervin Latimer, who, adorned with red lingerie and blonde wig, launched its Latimmier brand.
"It is gratifying to see and talk to people again in person," said Finnish designer Rolf Ekroth.
A good number of established Italian brands, from Herno to Caruso or Kiton, remained faithful to their appointments with male fashion, unlike Cucinelli.
Finally, 548 companies rented exposure space, 28 percent of them outside Italy."We have lost another 60 exhibitors in the last four weeks," said Raffaello Napoleone, general director and organizer of Pitti Immagine, in his office of Fortezza Basso, the old fortress where the fair is celebrated.This specified that it was mostly small brands."When a small team has to enter quarantine, there is little room for maneuver," he said.A total of 37 brands limited their participation to a digital presence on the Pitti Connect online platform.
There were more exhibitors than in the previous edition, and also more visitors.There was a considerable number of Dutch buyers, more than a hundred, according to Napoleone.The participation of European countries such as France, Germany and Belgium was good.In spite of everything, a small number of buyers from Asia and Russia was seen."And we receive seventeen American stores, with about thirty buyers," said Napoleone.
Compared to the most "normal" editions of the past, which had an average of about 1,200 exhibitors, things are still difficult.In addition, this time the contest has lasted one day less.
"We do not think at any time to cancel this edition," said the general director."The Italian legislation allows the celebration of halls with the 'Super Green Pass', so there was no reason for Pitti not to move on. When we canceled the physical editions of June 2020 and January 2021, we also follow the law.Then we lost 39 million euros. Pitti Immagine was founded in the 50s to advance Italian and international fashion. That is our role, and we must assume it as soon as possible. "Napoleone highlighted the security measures adopted, which include free tests and FFP2 masks, which are mandatory in Italy from the moment it goes abroad."We have commissioned twenty thousand of them," he said.
And he continued: "This is a stronger season than the previousThe loss are Britain, Japan and Hong Kong. Should we give up Pitti in these circumstances? No, we have done what we had to do, in difficult circumstances. We only made the right decisions. I like to compare our situation with a trip in a trip inCar during a snowstorm: Do you stay by the road, turn off the engine and wait for you to pass, or do you put the snow tires and go for all? "
Sustainability has definitely opened step
An outstanding foreign exhibitor was Itah, from New Delhi, specialized in exclusive handmade fabrics."We have been in the market for four years," said creative director Amit Babbar."We contribute a new Indian aesthetic, which is not ethnic, but according to the present. Although we use our traditions, fabrics and techniques. Our clients are architects and artists. As an Indian brand, winter clothes are not our strong point. For thisFirst participation in Pitti Uomo, we bring a collection that can be called "transestational", which includes hand -woven wool. Next season we will undoubtedly return. "
The answer has been excellent, according to Babbar."There are enough people, although most are local. There are few Japanese or Americans, and I think that for Italian buyers we are only a niche."
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Finnish designer Rolf Ekroth released his collection for next winter digitally through the Pitti platform.The collection is loaded with references to the 1990s, particularly the techno and motorcycle races."My cousins liked motorcycles, not so much," said Ekroth, in his stand."I tried to imagine how my childhood could have been in Finland. A kind of nostalgia for the memories that I personally do not have."
And he added: "The first day was too quiet, but today it has gone very well. People are happy. Being able to meet again, talk 'live', it does well, mentally and physically. I think it is important to see fashion, touch clothes, talk about her. A video alone is not enough. "
However, this season Ekroth has opted for a video presentation instead of a physical show."It seemed to me that a parade was still a bit difficult. Meeting people works in an exhibition hall like this, with a lot of space, so you can maintain a certain distance. In an exhibition, everyone feels too close. AVideo is also cheaper, which, for an independent designer like me, is also good. "
A striking element of this season was the definitive emergence of sustainable fashion, with great independent pavilions for brands such as Ecoalf and Save the Duck.Both brands have strengthened thanks to their "B Corporation" certificates.
The Italian Save The Duck celebrated its tenth anniversary with, among other things, the most exciting collaboration of the fair: British designer Edward Crutchley who designed a capsule for the brand protech line.In addition, the Spanish Ecoalf launched a new premium line, Ecoalf 1.0.
"I loved Ecoalf's slogan: there is no planet B," said Sonja Noël, owner and buyer of the renowned Brussels design boutique, Stijl.For ethical reasons, since the first time he visited the fair in 2019, he attends by train.Noël directed a sustainable boutique, Halelujah, between 2010 and 2015 and remains a firm believer in conscious fashion and Slow."I really see an evolution in that area, both among brands and among my customers. There are less pre -lections, fashion weeks are filled in another way and customers buy less, but give less importance to the price. They don't ask for discounts as soonas in December ".
"Also in Pitti, this week, I have seen a real emphasis on sustainability," said Noel."Now there are many promises everywhere: without waste, without animals, with recycling. Some brands bet on everything, and that is good, you cannot be against. But when I walk through Pitti, I see few products that are recorded to me. I forget them right away. That is worth the big brands, but also for small designers, who often cannot offer a true collection. It was a pleasure to see Christopher Raeburn again. He is a pioneer and has a beautiful story. In addition,I have also seen many Italian brands that specialize in a single category of products, only pants or knit garments or shoes. "
Herno continues to invest in his most youthful line, Globe, focusing on recycled materials.And Marc O'Polo is also fully committed to change, of course: all stands of the stand were sustainable.In fact, the Swedish-German brand aims to be totally sustainable in 2023 and climatic neutral in 2025. Marc O'Polo also works with Manteco, an Italian company that manufactures wool with "post-consumption recycling."
On the other hand, a section of the fair was dedicated to the new sustainable brands, S/Style Sustainable Style.The most attractive collection was that of Philip Huang, a designer based in New York and Bangkok who creates work clothes dyed with Indigo in Isan (Thailand)."Our cotton is spun, dyed and hand -woven. We do thirty meters per month."Huang also presented hand -dyed leather, denim recycled, Ikat Indigo and a new moss green, made with indigo and mango.
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The American brand of Outdoor Fushes, Baracuta, Barbour, Nanamica, Engineered Garments and Beams (sometimes for the Italian market, then international).In Pitti, the attention focused on a wide collection of clothing, with pen, jeans and shirts of flannel and molesquín.On the walls of the pavilion hung pieces of decades of the company's archives.
The giant of underwear, Sloggi, tried for the first time a collaboration with the team of the German vanguard magazine 032C.Liu Jo premiered a male collection in Pitti and the Russian Network SEPTEMBER, by designer Olga Vasyukova, appeared for the first time in Florence.
The absence of Brunello Cucinelli was supplied by brands such as Caruso, with its creative director Aldo Maria Camillo, and Kiton.This last firm first went to Pitti with KNT (by Kiton New Textures), the urban clothing brand of the twins Mariano and Walter de Matteis, third generation of the Kiton family.
In spite of everything, a flourishing participation
In the end, Pitti Immagine Uomo 101 hosted a total of 548 male fashion collections, of which 30 percent came from abroad.Simultaneously, Pitti Bimbo 94, the Children's Fashion Brother Hall, where 170 collections were presented.On his last day, Pitti reported the assistance of some 4,900 Italian and international buyers, which, "confirmed the positive sensations."He concluded that in total some 8,000 visitors attended, including guests, agents, representatives and suppliers.
The figures are similar to those of the hundredth edition of the Hall, held in June 2021, where the celebrations were also reduced due to the uncertainties of the COVID-19.However, despite everything, Pitti organizers maintain hope in the future of the event.
In a closing statement, Napoleone expressed his gratitude to the exhibitors, buyers and press for the contribution of support and "great energy and passion."And he added: "Finally, I deeply thank all Pitti people who have worked well and hard, our collaborators of all kinds, the assemblers, the municipal services, the restaurants, the hotels, to Florence. AllWe deserved this pitti. "
This article was originally published in Fashionunited.nl, translated and edited from the Dutch English by Rachel Douglass and finally from English to Spanish by Alicia Reyes Sarmiento.
