(by Elisa Cecchi).
The 89th edition of the Pitti
Uomo men's wear trade fair is opening Tuesday through Friday in
Florence with a Generation(s) theme on the end of the
generational divide in fashion as different age groups
contribute to define style.
And the age-defying storyline for next fall-winter developed
through architect Oliviero Baldini's set design and
installations across the fair's location, the Fortezza da Basso,
will debut high-tech wardrobe staples at this Pitti edition
showcasing 1,205 brands including 531 from abroad and 226 new
labels.
In particular, outerwear will play the lead with coats in
predominantly slim silhouettes, duffle coats, parkas and
travel-friendly jackets in new waterproof and wrinkle-resistant
fabrics.
The last Pitti Uomo winter edition in January 2015
attracted 35,000 visitors and 24,000 buyers, including 8,660
foreign buyers.
Korean designer Juun J, a master in overlapping silhouettes
and intricate cutting, will be the guest star of men's wear with
a fashion show on Wednesday at the Stazione Leopolda.
Italy's Marco De Vincenzo, who co-owns his namesake brand
with French luxury group LVMH and has been in the leather goods
team at Fendi for the past 15 years, is the guest star of the
women's wear fair Pitti W with a show Thursday at the Niccolini
theater, which has reopened after two decades.
Highlights of this edition will include Pitti Italics on
new generations of designers supported by the Pitti Discovery
Foundation, showcasing the winner of the 2015 men's wear Who's
On Next? talent scouting competition Vittorio Branchizio and
Florence's Federico Curradi.
In addition, after the success of last season's
Constellation Africa showcase, Pitti is promoting the project
again together with the International Trade center's Ethical
Fashon Initiative with collections made throughout the continent
by Akjp, Ikiré Jones, Lukhanyo Mdinigi x Nicholas Coutts,
U.Mi-1.
Other events at Pitti include label Herno and illustrator
Pierre-Louis Mascia launching a capsule collection of both men
and women's wear.
Italian artists Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari
will be promoting their own brand of irreverence with a Toilet
Paper for Seletti pop-up shop with a range of products.
'Make' will hail the resurgence of craft with exclusively
handmade goods from international brands, highlighting new ideas
and know-how in artisanal production.
Tuscan jeans label Roy Roger's will be debuting a new
capsule collection designed with top street style photographer
Scott Schuman called The Sartorialist for Roy Roger's after his
blog.
British label Aquascutum (1851) will be returning to Pitti
with its iconic men's wear and rainwear.
Meanwhile, data released on the eve of the trade fair
showed moderate growth for Italian men's wear in 2015 after a
number of slow seasons.
The Italy Fashion System (SMI) organization grouping
fashion producers said turnover in 2015 reportedly grew 1.8% at
nine billion euros, driven by exports which were estimated up
2.4% last year at just over 5.6 billion euros.
Imports grew 7.6% for a total of 4 billion euros.
Overall, European Union markets grew 3.3% while non-EU
sales went up 0.9% with a significant growth, however, in the
United States, up 16.2%, which became Italy's top market ahead
of France and Germany.
The positive trend is expected to continue in the first
semester of 2016 with growth forecast at 2.2%.
Based on data on spring-summer 2016 orders partially
available in November, when SMI compiled the report, foreign
markets are expected to shoot up 11.4% while domestic clients
are forecast to grow 5.8%.
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