What I've seen : Pitti Uomo 80

Fellow men, be ready for colors!

At the first days of summer I went on a school trip to Pitti Uomo, the biggest men fashion fair based here in Florence. 5 days of exhibition and installation of Men's collection for Spring Summer 2012.

There were not just one but enormous venue inside the Pitti Uomo area. There is The Main Pavilion which was the main part of the exhibition, I saw some brands I have never seen before such as Albert Arts, Altea, Kiton, Herno, Luciano Barbera, Sartorio and so on. In these brands I saw a very classis image with an high class craftsmanship touch. There are also names like Brunello Cucinelli, Church’s, Cruciani, Isaia, Lardini in the lower level which I think are more experimental but also done with true craftsmanship. And on the ground floor I saw some brands which are more sporty and casual. There is also the Urban Panorama which has installments from urban-metropolis brands. Here we can see brand such as Superdry, Denham, Jesus Jeans (a famous Italian denim who just rose again), Paul Frank, Casio, etc. There are also Futuro Maschile who offers unique interpretations of the developments in classic-contemporary men’s fashions. There were a lot of new twist in the style offered. Some of the brands are Mackintosh, Marchand Drapier, Pierre Louis Mascia,Roda, Salvatore Piccolo, Sundek by Neil Barrett. But my favorite venue was MY FACTORY and NEW BEAT(S), which was the area of emerging new talents. Here we can see how young talents describe fashion with freedom and creativity. The brands are Adam Kimmel / Carhartt Usa, Button Noise, Ciaboo, Civic Duty, Hells Bells, Kos Technology, Letom, Monsieur Lacenaire, Moveroma, O-Range, Resho, Rivieras Leisure Shoes, Skive and Sopopular.

Beside the whole exhibition, the more important thing I saw is the people who attend the exhibition. There were approximately 19,000 buyers came to Pitti and there were a lot of personal style to see.

Tommy Ton's Street Style Shots

My first thought was how massive is the effort for such brand to open a booth in Pitti because I knew it costs a lot. And every brand trying to stands out from others, trying to get as much attention they can get, and try the best to show the originality of their product and to communicate the message in their brand. Not to mention the huge cost of opening a drink bar, giving out freebies, even Boss has their own pool inside which was really elegant and marvelous. Such a huge effort for a brand to be known in an international environment.

Because it was my first time in Pitti, I didn’t really knew so much about development on trends and interpretation of style in menswear. But I did saw a lot of colors in the season. And the colors was rather hue and vibrant. I Saw a lot of suits in colors, cashmere sweaters in interesting colors, and a lot of detail on patterns such as checkers, polkadot, woven, and so on. Beside the vibrant colors shown  on fabrics, I also saw a lot of faded colors in materials. For shoes, I saw a lot of suede materials with different styles, classic, formal, laid back, all with suede. For me who haven’t really pay attention on men clothing before, I realize that they put so much attention in fabric, technology and materials. And a lot of it are meant to be functional.

From this event I can see how all brands made their projections and set an upcoming trend of the next spring summer. And I can see an understand how buyers work and make orders. And for visitors can absolutely see the exhibition as “shopping the market”.

But for me the more interesting part of the event was the “people-watching” part. Because a lot of beautiful people dressed up, it’s so interesting to compare the “fashion” going inside the exhibition and the real “fashion” going outside. It was like to compare two completely different visions of men's style going on simultaneously with such different results. For me the clothes people wear are much more interesting to see because they mix it with their personality and character, which makes the clothes stands out from they really are.

What a true eyegasm experience!