Innovative fashions, Italian style, creativity, superior design: this year’s editions of the Pitti Uomo and Pitti W trade fairs will be a jam-packed week featuring the ‘who’s who’ of the international fashion world.
From June 19 to 22, Florence will be the capital of fashion, with over 32,000 international exhibitors, buyers, fashion professionals and journalists. Some 1,020 brands―374 of which are from abroad―will showcase their 2013 men’s and women’s spring-summer collections at the world’s premiere platform for cutting-edge clothing and accessories: Pitti Uomo 82 and Pitti W_Woman Precollection 10. This year will also feature an unprecedented fashion show by the Florentine fashion house, Stefano Ricci, in the Uffizi gallery.
Florence and Italy will inspire imaginative, fashion-forward trends for both veteran and budding designers at this year’s Pitti Uomo. The 59,000-square-meter exhibition space at the Fortezza da Basso provides a venue as unique as the styles on display. Within the show, Pitti Uomo, Futuro Maschile, and Affinità Elettive display classic looks with a contemporary touch; Sport & Sport, Fashion at Work and Uppercasual feature the latest trends in sportswear; Ynformal, Urban Panorama, My Factory and New Beat(s) highlight emerging styles and new talents in urban fashion culture; and the Touch! and Altro Uomo sections focus on experimental and innovative collections for the contemporary man. Growing in size and importance every year, the Pitti W_Precollections are exhibited in the building of the former Dogana on via Valfonda.
This year’s theme focuses on food culture, an issue fundamental to contemporary lifestyles and tastes. WonderFood Pitti is a special installation in the main pavilion that will encourage visitors to reflect on issues concerning sustainability, such as where and how the food we eat is grown and produced. It will also seek to identify the fashion world’s role in helping to change eating habits in contemporary society and encourage a new vision of food supply and consumption. Designed by Oliviero Baldini, the installation will feature a real fruit and vegetable garden, cultivated under the watchful eyes of 30 mannequin-like scarecrows wearing clothes designed for the occasion by a select group of Pitti Uomo exhibitors from around the world.
Despite the grim economic outlook in both Italy and the rest of the Western world, the Pitti Immagine fairs in Florence continue on the road of success. The growing number of requests from brands seeking to stage innovative events during Pitti to attract top buyers, and the international press is evidence of this. Among the previews and special projects that will be held during this edition of Pitti Uomo are a world première showing of the 7 For All Mankindmen’s collection; the international launch of EC1, the new men’s collection by designer Ben Sherman; and a special exhibition celebrating 30 years of the Italian brand Stone Island.
Other highlights of Pitti Uomo 82 include the catwalk show by Italian label Valentino, which will present its spring-summer 2013 men’s collection. Pitti Uomo will also feature the latest collection from the historic French fashion house Maison Carven. Special guest at this edition of Pitti W is London-based label Peter Pilotto.
Art meets fashion, fashion as art: On June 18, fashion history will be made with the first runway show at the Uffizi Gallery. Celebrating 40 years of one of Florence’s most distinguished luxury menswear labels, the exclusive event will showcase the elegant designs of Stefano Ricci. ‘It is a great honour for me to be able to show my own creations in such an extraordinary location in the world as the Uffizi Gallery. My commitment is to present a fashion event worth this unique location,’ Ricci said. In 1972, Ricci made his international debut at the Pitti Immagine trade show in Florence, launching his line of handcrafted ties that helped make the accessory a stand-out feature of modern menswear.
A symbol of Florentine style and elegance around the world, Ricci will also receive the Pitti Uomo 82 Award in recognition for his highly successful international brand, consistency and determination. ‘I cannot think of a better celebration for Stefano Ricci,’ said Raffaello Napoleone, chief executive officer of Pitti Immagine. ‘We are proud to have come a long way together.’
Keeping with its tradition of innovation, the trade show has increased its online presence through e-Pitti.com, the internationally unique digital version of the fair. Because both Italian and international buyers are becoming increasingly active on the online platform, this year the trade show will stay live online for a month after the fair closes to extend the show’s reach to buyers abroad, especially those in Spain, Japan, Germany, Russia and England, Turkey, Brazil and China.
Pitti Uomo 82 is also teaming up with GQ.com, the official webTV sponsor of the event, for live coverage of Pitti Uomo brands, events and new trends during the show.
For details on the trade fairs and myriad Pitti events around town, see www.pittimmagine.com.
