I have heard this question 4 times over the past two days; What is this Pitti Uomo that everyone is talking about? so I thought I would share a little on it on Floralesque today. And for starters, it is not just about the street style (which is by the way fabulous!). In a way it is like a Fashion Week, in that designers show their work to retailers, buyers and press but what sets it apart is the scale of the event.
With the changes happening to the Menswear Fashion Week scene at the moment from Burberry showing just twice a year and focusing on Buy Now pieces to some designers not showing at the top Fashion Weeks and showing in the Summer instead – it is quite hard to keep up! And I think that may be why some people think that Pitti Immagine Uomo is new. But this twice-annual menswear tradeshow has actually been around for quite a while – it has its roots in 1950’s Florence, Italy and been in its current event style since 1972. Over the past number of years has become an important moment in the Menswear calendar.
This is firstly a tradeshow and it means business. The brands who are showing display their collection/season for buyers with the hope of high sales and much of what those buyers will buy at Pitti Uomo you will see in stores 6-9 months later.
There are also the runway shows (similar to LFW or PFW), and these are filled with editors, retailers, influencers etc. The shows are where the brands get to show their identity and theatrical aspect of their brand. The reason I love Pitti Uomo is to discover new brands which I may not have heard of before.
And to mention the Street Style…. it is pretty amazing. Over the past few years, I have become slightly disillusioned with the street style that is at London Fashion week as it has become slightly samey and apart from a few who play true to their own originality, there are less and less unique looks appearing. That does not appear to the case for Pitti Uomo – there is much more individuality shining through and often you will see some of the key trends for the next season in the front row.
This year’s event will be held from the 12th-15th June in Fortezza da Basso, Florence and you can read more here. And if you want to read more of the history of it, BOF has a great article here.
