A Bounty at Pitti
Buyers attending the bellwether men’s wear fair lauded the lineup of shows and presentations, led by Givenchy and Salvatore Ferragamo.
All the trends and highlights from Florence.
FLORENCE — Florence, the official men’s wear fashion capital? Pitti Uomo continues to make a good argument for it, laying out for its 96th edition and the 30th anniversary of Pitti Immagine Uomo a bigbang calendar of events, led by Givenchy and Salvatore Ferragamo’s shows in historic sites around the city — the latter at the Piazza della Signoria in front of a replica of Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni’s “David.”
Buyers gave the thumbs-up.
“After such a strong Pitti outing now we await Milan’s fashion week with a mix of anticipation and doubts on the slightly weaker calendar,” said Federica Montelli, head of fashion at Rinascente. She highlighted among Pitti’s reigning themes of “sustainability” — “carried out through the show in very different and clever ways by the brands, especially in accessories” — and a palpable push toward gender fluidity, “present in the soft approach to tailoring, fluid fabrics and pastel hues, and the men’s shirts, skewed toward sheer fabrics with a slight feminine touch, often layered on tank tops.”
“The lineup of off-site shows and presentations has shown the full range of the beauty of the city and the Tuscan countryside,” said Justin Berkowitz, men’s fashion director at Bloomingdale’s. “From Salvatore Ferragamo’s show held in the center of town — where the standout items were the leather and suede holdalls in sophisticated tones of gray, rust and mint, and the simple canvas sneakers — to Givenchy’s glamorous takeover of the gardens at Villa Palmieri in the hills, where standouts included modern tailoring and some great nylon outerwear.”
Lauding Z Zegna’s combination of soft tailoring with nylon pieces in a palette of desert tones in brown, rust, green, and off-white, for Berkowitz, it’s a season of softness, with a fresh interpretation of the tailored silhouette carrying an “almost pajama-like ease.”
The short jacket — the bomber, Harrington or shirt jacket — “has officially become an alternative for the blazer,” he added, while pants are fluid, with shapes that are tapered, pleated and cropped.
“Florence is a-buzz and brimming with some of the finest men’s attire I’ve ever seen,” said Madison Blank, men’s and women’s designer market manager at Saks Fifth Avenue, where “men’s is on fire at the moment, and primed for future growth.”
Blank observed a sustained momentum in the return to tailoring, with work jackets shown in suiting fabrics and canvas, with a prevalence of technical fabrics in outerwear and ready-to-wear styles. The season’s key items include the printed shirt, cargo pant and lightweight knit polo as well as spring leather pants and jackets, she said.
Shoji Uchiyama, men’s fashion director at United Arrows, which has seen an increase in sales on the new style of suits, said Givenchy’s show reaffirmed the beauty of tailoring. He enjoyed the ethnic patterns and “power of color” — earth tones, orange, terracotta, pink — across collections, even if for him, the offer was a little “stagnant.”
Other trends observed by buyers included stripes, coming on strong in wovens and knits; prints, with a focus on abstract patterns with artistic inspiration, including dye techniques and watercolor prints; vivid color across all categories — led by pink and mint green, from streetwear to suiting — and a resurgence of madras fabrications.
“It showed up in many places and provided a perfect pop of pattern and color in Brunello Cucinelli’s great collection,” noted Bruce Pask, men’s fashion director at Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman
Marcus, who lauded the “stunning, epic” presentations and fashion shows from brands including Givenchy, Salvatore Ferragamo and Canali, which took over a Florentine villa to re-create the ideal summer garden party, complete with chess on the lawn.
For directions, pale tailoring, a seasonal staple, “has never looked more refreshing or more versatile, with great blended fabrications that add durability beyond the classic linen suit,” added Pask.
Citing “a truly global representation” at the event, Lee Goldup, men’s wear buyer at Browns Fashion, mentioned cargo pants and silky fabrics among trends he picked up on in London that were confirmed at the show.
The highlight for him remained the “I Go Out” area devoted to outdoor brands, especially the collections by And Wander and Descente. Men’s at Browns “is growing at a phenomenal rate both in store and online as well as across all categories,” he said.
Here are some of the top brands from the show: