With the 94th edition of Pitti Immagine Uomo, starting on June 12, Florence is once again the Italian capital of fashion, this time for men, hosting the most important show in the world for the quality and quantity of exhibitors and buyers.
There will be four days full of appointments for men's fashion – the event will end on Friday 15 June – which from Fortezza da Basso will color the entire city, bringing Pop art and a swirl of colors to the shadow of Palazzo Vecchio with POP – Pitti Optical Power, which will involve the lifestyler Sergio Colantuoni.
PITTI IMMAGINE MAN: THE EVENTS
The special guest will be Fumito Ganryu, Japanese designer from the Comme des Garcon school, who arrives in Florence as the Designer project of this new edition of Pitti Uomo. Roberto Cavalli will also be present, who will present the preview of the men's collection designed by Paul Surridge, and the British designer Craig Green.
Attention also to Moncler which on this opening day will launch the first of eight collections of the Genius project designed by Hiroshi Fuijwara (in the wake of the expected news, the stock travels in positive territory on Piazza Affari, gaining 0,6% and beating the performance of the FtseMib). Waiting for the inauguration of the two new halls of Gucci Garden and for the new exhibition section i go out, dedicated to the outdoor world.
Guest Nation will be Georgia, but Northern European influences will also be felt on Pitti with the project Scandinavian Manifesto at the Arena Strozzi, which brings 17 emerging men's fashion designers onto the catwalk.
PITTI IMMAGINE MAN: THE NUMBERS
In total, this 94th edition will be characterized by the presence of 1.240 exhibitors, 45% of which from abroad, distributed in the various exhibition sections which extend over 60 square meters of space. The arrival of 19.500 buyers is expected, including 8.500 from abroad.
Important numbers that can be explained, in part, by the results achieved by Italian companies in the sector in 2017. Last year, local men's fashion grew by +3,7%, reaching the record figure of 9,3 billion euros ( 2016 closed at 8,7 billion), a level that represents 65,5% of the sector's turnover.
According to data from Confindustria Moda, the exports of clothing, shirts, ties and knitwear companies exceeded 6 billion euros for the first time (+5,2%) thanks to the boost coming from leather goods, furs and jewelery which registered double-digit increases. Growth of around +3,5% for footwear and textile-clothing (which respectively cover 15% and 49% of total exports) and +2,4% for eyewear. Performances that have led the trade balance to exceed 2 billion euros, clearly beating analysts' estimates. Not only that, in 2018 a further improvement is expected with exports which, in the first two months of the year, have already increased by 2,6%.
However, the four days of Pitti Uomo also shine a light on the domestic market which, despite the recovery, continues to struggle: household consumption in 2017 stood at 6,9 billion (-1,5%). However, encouraging news comes from the production of "made in Italy" which, after three years of decline, in 2017 scored +1,7% to 4,736 billion.
