Pitti Games: Fendi – The Special Guest di Pitti Uomo June Shows

Men’s Fashion Week in Italy is one, it starts in Florence with 2023 Pitti Uomo and Continues in Milan with Fashion Week.

“Pitti Games” is the theme of the Pitti Imagine June shows.

Pitti Uomo (in English, “Pitti Men”), is one of the world’s most important platforms for men’s clothing and accessory collections, and for launching new projects in men’s fashion. It’s held twice yearly in Florence, at the Fortezza da Basso. The first edition of Pitti Uomo was held in Florence in September 1972.

Play your game at Pitti Uomo!

“Pitti Games” is the theme that defines the style and atmosphere of the upcoming Pitti Immagine fairs in June. Play, that’s the keyword. Because it refers to a challenging but creative dimension, which is synonymous with energy, commitment, and a desire to succeed. These are the ingredients that Pitti Immagine aims to showcase through fashion and lifestyle proposals, thanks to the direction of Leonardo Corallini and the coordination of creative director Angelo Figus.

The theme of ‘Pitti Games’ perfectly aligns with the optimistic climate that surrounds the opening of the upcoming fairs. This is why we have envisioned Fortezza da Basso as a giant gaming table, where we can have fun, take risks, bet on ourselves and our strategies, consider our opponents and partners, step out of our comfort zones, and take a few daring moves. Reflect, spread out, bluff perhaps, shuffle, mix, put down the cards. In short, games give us a lot of input, in life and in our work. — AGOSTINO POLETTO, general director of Pitti Immagine.

Checkerboard squares, the backgammon’s elongated triangles, cards, and dice inspire the disruptive graphic elements in the sets and recall the patterns of the models’ outfits. While the most advanced technologies, provided by Milan’s On air studio which specializes in extended reality, enabled the creation of a high-quality video with three-dimensional and immersive effects.

I imagined that the upcoming fairs could open as an invitation to the Pitti community to play their own game. A kind of inclusive operation that – from cards to checkers transformed into graphic signs – would tell different strategies and modes. Of course, the reference to textiles is constant: checks, zig zags, and vertical lines are broken down and recomposed in the fair scenario.” — ANGELO FIGUS, creative director.

Fendi – The Special Guest di Pitti Uomo 104

FENDI will present its Men’s Spring/Summer 2024 collection in Florence on the occasion of Pitti Immagine Uomo n.104 (13th-16th June 2023), with a special fashion show – by invitation – scheduled for late afternoon of June 15th in the unique and recently inaugurated FENDI Factory, the new pole of excellence located in the heart of Tuscany’s countryside in Capannuccia (Bagno a Ripoli).

“We are proud to open FENDI Factory to our clients and press, making it live outside the day by day for the upcoming Men’s fashion show in June during Pitti Uomo. It is a special place for our artisans and local community as it represents FENDI heritage and creativity, nurturing precious handmade abilities of its artisans and preserving Made in Italy.” — SERGE BRUNSCHWIG, Chairman and CEO, FENDI.

“I am thrilled that the next Men’s Show will take place in such a special location to me, the pulsing heart of FENDI, a place symbolic of creation, where development, innovation, craftsmanship training and production are reunited under the same roof. It will be such a unique occasion to see our products take life exactly where our Artisans make them, letting them take centre stage on that day,” — SILVIA VENTURINI FENDI, Artistic Director of Accessories and Menswear, FENDI

“I am particularly delighted with the presence of FENDI, one of the most prestigious luxury brands on the global scene, at Pitti Uomo in June, precisely in the edition that marks my debut at the helm of the company. This presentation further confirms the international standing of the fair and the quality of its special events. I would also like to underline the importance of the renewed union of intentions with Camera Nazionale della Moda, with which we share the objective of promoting and valorising the highest Italian fashion in contexts of global relevance: each organisation with its own peculiarities and references, both aware that the complementary sequence of Florence-Milan appointments is essential for the entire national men’s fashion system. I therefore take this opportunity to express our gratitude to Silvia Venturini Fendi and Carlo Capasa.” — ANTONIO DE MATTEIS, President of Pitti Immagine.

“Men’s Fashion Week in Italy is one, it starts in Florence with Pitti and continues in Milan with our Fashion Week, with two different and complementary modalities. The synergy between our two realities makes the Italian men’s fashion proposal the most important in the world. Thanks to the FENDI fashion show that will close the Pitti events on Thursday evening and kick off the Milan fashion shows, the interconnection that binds Florence and Milan is even more evident, even on an international level. The choice of Maison FENDI to present its men’s collection at its Factory in Florence is an important message of enhancing the fashion industry and local territory. It is amazing that a great brand, a member of CNMI, by opening the doors of its own pole highlights the work of craftsmanship that makes Italian fashion unique in the world,” — CARLO CAPASA, Chairman of Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana.

“With Silvia Venturini Fendi we share a special bond, built over the years through various collaborations, always in support of new talents. And above all, we are fans of her vision of men’s clothing and lifestyle, of her ability to blend classic elements and radical innovation in a harmonious and modern way. The FENDI event is a precious and emblematic occasion for the city and its productive poles as well. In fact, the Factory is a large structure dedicated above all to leather goods, representing one of the best expressions of the manufacturing, industrial and artisanal tradition of our territory and region. FENDI’s investment harnesses the skills and knowledge rooted here and at the same time nurtures them, contributes to their modernisation, and combines them with high quality design in fashion and accessories” — RAFFAELLO NAPOLEONE, CEO of Pitti Immagine.

FENDI’s special presence in the calendar of the next Pitti Uomo has been agreed with Pitti Immagine and the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana. FENDI will return to show during the Milan Fashion Week starting from January 2024 with its Men’s Fall/Winter 2024-25 Collection.

The January edition of Pitti Uomo was an extraordinary one.

The menswear fashion fair ended with very high and very encouraging attendance figures: 13,500 buyers registered, 33% of which from abroad, over 18,000 visitors in total.

An extraordinary energy, a work and party atmosphere (helped by the weather!) and long forgotten attendance figures… These are the conclusions for the 103rd edition of Pitti Immagine Uomo, that ended in Florence (10-13 January 2023) with almost 800 men’s fashion, lifestyle and genderless collections at the Fortezza da Basso, an increasingly evolved exhibition layout and new sections like PITTIPETS and The SIGN. Plus the special events in other venues around the city: from the Martine Rose catwalk show at the Loggia del Porcellino to the Jan-Jan Van Essche show in the Santa Maria Novella Complex, together with all the other scheduled presentations and events that met with great approval from the press, buyers and guests who traveled specially to Florence.

The final attendance figures registered, in absolute terms, around 13,500 buyers, representing 6,500 sales and distribution companies (boutiques, retail, multi-brand, department and specialty stores, chains, specialist e-commerce platforms), a 210% increase compared to January 2022: there were over 9,000 Italian (+ 190%), and around 4,500 foreign buyers (+260%), representing 33% of the total.

The overall number of visitors to the Fortezza at this edition exceeded 18,000.

Last year there was a single registration for buyers at Pitti Uomo and Bimbo which were held concomitantly,
both at the Fortezza da Basso.

The top 10 foreign markets with the highest attendance at this edition were: Germany (over 530 buyers), Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom, Turkey, Switzerland, France, United States, Japan and Belgium.

Finally, great satisfaction was expressed among all the exhibitors for the return of the best Asian buyers. Over 190 buyers attended from Japan (there were 6 in January 2022), there were almost 140 from South Korea (compared to 5 in January 2022); similarly, there was also a return of buyers from continental China, China-Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand, countries which were almost absent at the last winter edition.

Another interesting piece of information concerns the attendance of buyers from Nordic-Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland), which reached the quota of 227 at this edition – there was a total of 60 last winter.

We should also mention the achievements of Israel, Mexico, Canada and Ireland, the big recovery of the numbers from countries in Eastern Europe and from the Middle East, and from the Azerbaijan – Uzbekistan – Kazakhstan block (there were 4 buyers from these countries last year, at this edition there were 43!).