The last edition of Pitti Uomo held in Florence on 10-13 January 2023 registered some significant results, despite the first day seemed quieter, the following ones were truly busy, successful and very similar to pre-covid times.
In absolute terms, the 12,600 buyers that had entered, representing more than six thousand sales and distribution companies from boutiques, retail, multi-brand, department and specialty stores, chains and specialised e-commerce platforms, and they represented an increase of 200% compared to January 2022 and counted 8,400 Italian buyers and 4,200 foreign ones.
They also registered a return of top Asian buyers from Japan, South Korea as well as buyers from mainland China, China-Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand, countries that had been almost absent at the last winter edition.
Another interesting result was buyers' attendance from the Nordic-Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Norway, DenmarK and Finland).
Trends on show
Despite many companies that used to participate in the show decided not to exhibit or hold events in other contexts, Pitti Immagine remains an interesting shop window for showcasing new projects and chasing for new ideas.
Among the strongest trends for f/w 2023/2024, there was a widespread presence of versatile, comfortable and deconstructed pieces meant to be worn for many years like, for instance, shown by Jan-Jan van Essche and Martin Rose, the two special guest designers of this edition.
No-season is a must
Many exhibitors opted for no-season pieces as an all-year-round service and a more sustainable alternative to fast fashion, as each piece can be worn 365 days a week and can be kept for longer in everyone's wardrobe.
Tela Genova has presented Four Seasons, a capsule of denim pieces that are the brand's bestsellers and will be available all year long to be replenished in about 48 hours. They include a little denim and jersey tops and a series of five-pockets in selvedge denim, as the rest of the collection.
Jeans are back
In reality jeans were never out, but for this edition of Pitti Uomo many jeans seem to be back on the scene. Among them, Peppino Peppino reinvents the overall in different versions including a grey aged denim and dungarees in aged indigo denim variants.
Cycle (see our story) has a clear new strategy of relaunch. Similarly, Jeckerson is now back with a new creative director, Mauro Ravizza Krieger, heading the brand's relaunch under Mittel, holding that also owns Ciesse Piumini.
Differently, Handpicked continues to offer innovative fits and product design, while Incotex Blue Division by Slowear offers a selection of interesting materials in the same jeans as, for instance, indigo cord added to different blue shades of jeans.
Knitwear is another protagonist of the season. A strong return of thick, Nordic, ethnic jacquard tops, as presented by Filson and Roy Rogers, or decored with pop motives as seen at Chateau Orlando, Herno and St. Barth, are some new must-haves.
In many collections, tops, jackets and shirts are offered in thick cord interpretations. Among others Save The Duck and KTN-Kiton chose it in a waterproof version for some of their jackets.
Various brands are offering their most innovative and sustainable products. A selection of new sustainable upcoming brands was hosted in the S Style section. Among them, there was Waste Yarn Project, a knitwear brand made by recycling unused wool remains from the knitwear industry. The designer offers different patchworks of knitted motives all mixed randomly.
Exhibiting in the show's main pavillion was Regenesi, an expert companiy that uses recycled PET for new products. For the occasion it launched two new series of hats: a line of felt fedora hats and a line of baseball caps, reversible cloches and other styles in velvet, all made with 100% recycled PET.
Among various innovations from the outer apparel market, People of Shibuya, has announced a change in its name to be shortened to "People", in order to meet a wider and more international clientele's request. The brand is offering a series of new materials like iridescent nylons, paddings in Thermore and Primaloft ,and a selection of pieces made with technical wool by Loro Piana and pieces added with Gore-Tex film for extra performance.
