The 105th edition of Italian trade show Pitti Uomo set a fast pace for this menswear season. There were 832 brands to take in, two guest designers and shows by major brands including Todd Snyder, Woolrich and Guess Jeans. Fitting, then, that the theme of the event was “time” and its ability to slow down or speed up, depending on your perception.
The four-day event, which kicked off on 9 January, whizzed by with 13,000 buyers in attendance. There were fewer domestic buyers at the fair due to the local impact of the economic crisis over the last three to four months, while the number of international buyers rose 4 per cent year-on-year to 4,700.
“Pitti is a very different moment from all the other moments of the fashion [calendar] because it’s four days where you can have an overview of the industry, have conversations and see many different types of brand,” says Pitti president Antonio De Matteis.
“In the pavilions, the stands, in the city, at special events, here in Florence we recorded a widespread, great energy,” adds Raffaello Napoleone, CEO of the fair’s organiser Pitti Immagine. “I am referring to the quality of the collections and the companies’ commitment to adding new styles and/or materials each season in tune with new consumer trends; to the ability of the best retailers and buyers to select orders [that balance creativity with] commercial needs.”
Pitti’s impact is growing thanks to closer links with Milan Fashion Week, as outlined by Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana president Carlo Capasa in his Autumn/Winter 2024 press briefing in December. It’s a smart move: in Copenhagen, fashion week has long aligned with the city’s trade shows, bringing more attention to each.
Here are the key takeaways from Pitti that will inform menswear’s direction in 2024.
Young talent with a progressive message
Unlike last season, where LA label Erl featured as the only guest designer, this edition of Pitti placed a bigger focus on emerging talents, with two guest designers, who each presented a progressive vision of menswear, examining gender roles and/or inclusivity.
First, Italian label Magliano sent models down an enormous spotlit staircase in sports and concert hall Nelson Mandela Forum. The show opened with a mid-size look, which — in a menswear market where size inclusivity is lacking — felt like a battle cry from Luca Magliano. The young Italian designer has prioritised dressing all bodies regardless of gender, race or size since launching his brand in 2016. The AW24 collection was inspired by femininity, featuring men in skirts and people in specially made chest binders (compression tops), in collaboration with Untag. “Being at Pitti means reflecting on the idea of classic, and our take is feminine, a sort of new neutral that belongs to gay identities and to the queer culture,” the designer told Vogue Runway reporter Tiziana Cardini.
Pitti mainstay brand Kiton provided the tailoring for the collection. “We want to show how our company is very open to novelty, to modernity, to be contemporary, and to collaborate with new blood,” says Kiton CEO De Matteis (who also serves as Pitti president).
Then, on Thursday evening, British export SS Daley took to the stage as Pitti guest designer. In Florence’s historic Palazzo Vecchio, designer Steven Stokey-Daley presented a focused, 35-look collection inspired by the diaries between two boys who fell in love in an Oxford dorm in 1935, and EM Forster’s queer coming-of-age novel Story of a Panic.
“My work is subversive because in the UK and many corners of the world, we’re going backwards,” said Stokey-Daley ahead of the show, referring to the lack of, or rolling back of, LGBTQ+ rights. “Not to bang the drum too much… but that’s why it’s important to tell these stories.”
Enter the age of imperfection
Throughout the fair, garments had exposed linen labels, grains in wool and — as predicted for AW24 — baggy, slouchy fits.
British accessory and luggage brand Carl Friedrik, which showcased in the Futura Maschina section of the fair, purposefully uses a fragile leather for its briefcases, wallets and suitcases, so that the pattina reflects use over time and gives a “lived-in” look. “Some customers want pristine, but we find a lot of customers today are happy for things to feel more worn in,” says co-founder Mattis Oppermann.
Camper creative director Achilles Ion Gabriel’s eponymous ready-to-wear brand made its much-anticipated debut on Thursday, at old station Stazione Leopolda, a short walk from the Pitti Uomo fair. “I’ve always seen Pitti as a major platform in the industry,” says the designer. “We’ve received such incredibly positive feedback from guests who attended the show and those who were able to watch online if they were unable to travel to Florence. I couldn’t be happier.” The collection featured heavily starched coats and shirting, fragile, déchirée lace dresses, torn hems on jeans and oversized studded-leather shoulder bags with scribble prints and intentional damage to the pattina.
At Magliano, imperfection was also a key theme. With slight untuckings, shirts sticking out and slouchy, layered knits. “I think this imperfection that is visible has to do with the fact that for us, the garments interiorise behaviours, act as and reflect human attitudes and gestures, and with them also imperfections, that we don’t see as non-perfect at all,” Magliano says, “perfection is a concept we are not interested [in] at all. In the show, [not just in] this AW24 but in all our shows, a sense of fragility is what we want to communicate using the clothes.”
Men are growing their wardrobes
While tailoring still featured heavily at Pitti, brands continued to experiment new avenues this season, to win different audiences or offer fresh categories to their existing customers.
Kiton, which doubled its sales to €200 million between 2020 and 2023, presented its “urbanwear” sub-brand KNT in a large display at the main piazza. The collection of sweaters, T-shirts and puffers, printed with graffiti-style artwork from artist Omar Hassan, underlines the brand’s desire to reach young audiences and serve more moments in the customer’s day.
“Men are now more precise with what they wear, and they dress for the occasion,” says De Matteis. “Menswear is becoming like womenswear. Men can change three times a day. Because if in the evening there is a beautiful party, he will wear a tuxedo. If it’s a cocktail, he will go in [more[ sportswear inspired [clothes]. Clients are growing their wardrobes to reflect [the shift].”
In the long-standing Scandinavian section, plaid, slouchy suiting and sports-inspired fashion reigned, in line with the growing influence of sport on fashion since lockdown. “The suit and tie is over, as we know,” said a merchandiser for Swedish brand J Lindeberg.
Outerwear is in
Men are investing more heavily in accessories and outerwear, to bring luxury and performance to other parts of their lives. Exhibitors explained that men are doing more research than ever, before buying into performancewear, outerwear and accessories, to extend the longevity of their purchases.
This season, to reflect the growing influence of outerwear, gorpcore and technical fashion on the menswear market, Pitti added a new section: I Go Out. As temperatures plummeted across Northern Europe and the wind in Florence began to bite this week, this new focus felt well-placed.
The section features over 20 outerwear labels, including footwear label Teva, technical brand Everyday Mountaineering and coat brand Càpe Concept. There were also big-brand outerwear activations in the main piazza and across the fair from Japanese camping brand Snowpeak, down jacket label Replumé and WP Lavori, which presented outerwear labels Barbour, Filson and Blundstone. With puffers and waterproofs in neon tones and patterns, Pitti’s outerwear offering provided an interesting contrast to the more neutral tones across the tailoring section. As loud luxury creeps in for 2024, outerwear is leading the way.
More from this author:
Harry Styles investment and a Florence show: Inside SS Daley’s next act
Loud luxury, grandpa core and jelly dressing: 2024 menswear predictions
