Under the motto “Pitti Times”, Pitti Uomo is giving the starting signal for the fall/winter 2024 season this week and making its Florentine home the epicenter of fashion for a few days. Pitti boss Raffaello Napoleone explained at the start of the fair why Florence is essential as a location for the men’s fashion fair and how the role of Pitti and that of the organizer Pitti Immagine has changed with the changing times.
The 105th Pitti Uomo is dedicated to ‘PittiTimes’. How did this central theme come about?
After the events of the last four years, we firmly believe that now is the time to make a real effort to understand what is going on, act and make decisions – that was the starting point of the motto.
Times have changed, fashion and fashion weeks have completely changed. Brands show in India, Cuba, Hong Kong or Shanghai on different dates and with different collections. We are dealing with a new concept here, and this raises not only the question of time, but also of timing. ‘PittiTimes’ was the best way to convey a message that cuts across the fashion system. Furthermore, it is also time for the fashion industry to rethink its distribution.
Times are changing, what are the biggest challenges in the industry right now?
The big problem is the change in the distribution system and e-commerce. Online sales are suffering and this is changing the distribution structure. Nobody is sure which channels to rely on now.
There are changes not only in e-commerce, but also in the trade fair landscape. While many trade fair concepts are currently being reconsidered or even discontinued, Pitti Uomo seems to be growing.
We never thought about size, but rather about creating spaces where visitors can see the best of the collections. Now more than ever, shoppers are not looking for quantity, but rather for selection, quality and identity, and they don’t want to waste time.
What makes Pitti Uomo and Florence so unique?
If you want to use a metaphor, you could use a Formula 1 race track. When you’re in the Formula 1 business you have to be on the right track and there are only a few that are really relevant. Pitti is, if you will, the right race track. It’s the Grand Prix Formula di Monza of fashion that everyone goes to because it’s steeped in history. We have history. Pitti was born in 1951, we are the father and mother of Italian fashion.
Florence is also very small. Even if you have the Fortezza [Anm. d. Red.: Fortezza da Basso, der Veranstaltungsort der Pitti Uomo] If you leave, there is a 90% chance that you will meet someone out for dinner, a drink or at the hotel who is interesting to you and your company and from whom you could benefit – be it in terms of sales, manufacturing or the Suppliers. It’s the only place where the men’s fashion community can truly meet and come together. The same cannot be said about New York, Paris, London or Milan. That’s impossible.
Are there any changes that you are observing at Pitti Uomo and among visitors?
In the past, the large department stores came to Pitti Uomo with a convoy of buyers, ten or 20 buyers at a time. Because it was also an opportunity to learn, teach the staff and understand what makes the market tick. Now they only come here with two people, the general merchandise manager and the person in charge of men’s fashion. So the scenario has completely changed because everyone has to cut costs and yet they come to Pitti to compare and understand what drives men’s fashion and that’s why we are very careful and precise with the offer and the way, how we design the show.
How do you understand your role as a trade fair organizer? To what extent can Pitti support shoppers and visitors?
We are trade fair organizers, but I prefer to think of us as exhibition organizers. If you look at the program of events, we are not a fashion week, we don’t want to be a fashion week, but we want to find and highlight voices with a meaningful vision and showcase brands and designers that can truly inspire. We try to have our antennas everywhere, in the United States, Germany, Japan, Korea, China, and of course we follow fashion weeks and events worldwide. But above all, we strive to understand what drives the industry.
So we are not just organizers of trade fair stands. We offer much more than just a product. Fashion, especially today, must of course convey information, relationships, contacts and business opportunities, but one should not underestimate the importance of emotions either. For those who buy and for those who sell, not to mention the people who produce. You need that kind of sensitivity, that kind of feeling. If you only look at fashion as a commodity, it gets boring very quickly.
Is there anything you are particularly curious or excited about in this edition of Pitti?
I am very excited about the number of participants this year, especially the international participants. As far as the offer is concerned, we already know where the journey is going. We know exactly how many exhibitors we will have: 832. But as far as visitors are concerned, that remains to be seen. We know how many shops have closed in the last year, not only in Italy but also in Germany, in France, in England, in the United States.
It is confirmed that the top buyers from the big department stores will come, not least because of our hospitality program, which we have to thank the Italian Trade Commission for, but whether the rest will come remains to be seen. I am very curious to understand the real retail economy, including small retailers. The question really is whether they will attend, how many of them and what countries they come from. That is the great curiosity.