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Pitti Uomo #107 Day One: Hoping for a new renaissance in Florence

Eric Musgrave
14 January 2025

The bright sunshine and clear skies above Florence today (Tuesday) was a welcome lift to the spirits as the 107th edition of Pitti Uomo Immagine welcomed major players in the global menswear market.

Starting in the second week of January rather than the first, which is more usual, prompted a very buzzy attendance inside the halls at the Fortezza da Basso complex on the morning. Exhibitors were hoping this reflected an eager attitude from buyers towards the autumn-winter collections on show but there was a general resignation that 2025 was going to be another challenging year for the premium sector of the menswear industry the Italian fair serves.

Many major markets around the world continue to try and find a post-COVID equilibrium. What the second Trump presidency will mean for the US economy and, perhaps more importantly, for world trade is a widespread concern. Japan’s Yen continues to be weak and South Korea is in political turmoil, two issues that damage sales to the best Far Eastern markets, while China has still not returned to pre-COVID levels.

With most European markets being described, at best, as flat, no one is expecting AW25 to be a record-breaker.

Pitti Uomo

Talk at Pitti Uomo centred on trading challenges in the UK

Among the 43 British exhibitors coordinated by the UK Fashion & Textile Association (UKFT), the impending financial impact of last October’s Budget is a primary concern. So far, wholesale price increases are in the 2%-4% region but there are widespread predictions of job losses in the UK manufacturing sector later this year as business owners and managers strive to handle the fiscal squeeze.

“The extra costs of the Budget will amount to about £125,000 to us,” said William Church, director and co-owner of Northants-based footwear manufacturer Joseph Cheaney. “and we’ll have to sell a lot more pairs of shoes to cover that. I wouldn’t mind being taxed on profits because then you have the money to pay, but this seems to many of us like a private sector employment tax.

“It’s going to have a big impact on British heritage craft businesses like ours, which by their very nature are labour-intensive. We are all already dealing with operating against a strong headwind globally – Japan, which has been flat for several years, is our biggest market – and now this. What is particularly frustrating is these NI and wage rises won’t hit importers’ costs, only employers in the UK.”

While acknowledging the challenges of the market, Bill Leach, global sales director of British knitwear producer John Smedley, said he’s been encouraged by the response of major customers he has already seen. “After orders being cut back for the past few seasons following the lockdown, I am seeing retailers like Harrods, Mr Porter and Selfridges being more inclined to order more confidently.

“As Pitti Uomo never starts until the first Tuesday after the Epiphany (January 6) holiday in Italy, this year it has gone into the second week of January, which should help with attendance by Italian retailers. But it has caused an overlap with the New York menswear market week, which has already started, and it has narrowed the gap before Chinese New Year (January 29), so those are a couple more factors that affect international buyers.”

Forward-looking British buyers continue to find a trip to Florence worthwhile. Since COVID, the IMC buying group, which has 140 members operating about 220 doors in the better-end of the menswear market, has organised a group trip to the show.

This season 16 IMC members, including William Coe of Coes of Ipswich, Matthew Hansford of Hansfords in Chichester, Gary Culver of Frederick L Mabb in Dorchester and John Lambert of the eight-strong County Clothes in Kent and Sussex, were in attendance.

The group is in discussion with the management of Pitti about bringing more first-time UK visitors to Pitti, which remains the premier show in the world for classic mainstream menswear.

Pitti Uomo

A strong contingent of British retailers made the trip to Florence

It also provides inspiration and new brands for veteran visitors. Keith McNichol started his Richmond Classics shop in Bournemouth in 1988 and has been to most editions of Pitti Uomo since the early 1990s.

“As an independent, I am continuing to play to my strengths for 2025, so my motto is: Don’t follow, lead. Coming here to Florence and then going on the events in Paris, I can reckon to pick up four or five new brands every season. Not mentioning the name, but I found a shoe brand here at Pitti three seasons ago and I’ve been achieving 90%-plus sell-throughs on it at £195 a pair. There is no price-resistance if the product is right.

“When I am here at Pitti I am looking for new suppliers so that my customers can’t say to me ‘They’ve got that in Flannels’. Too many brands are narrow-minded and are going DTC (direct to consumer) or dealing only with the biggest groups to get sales. A trip to Pitti is always worth the effort.”

Pitti Uomo was started in 1972 and has been based at the historic Fortezza da Basso complex since 1982. For its 107thedition it is presenting 770 menswear brands, with 45% being non-Italian, over its four-day schedule. This season LVMH prize winner Satoshi Kuwata has brought the Setchu line to Pitti for his first runway show and MM6 Maison Margiela has created an exclusive collection for the event, but most British buyers are more interested in what’s on offer in the five sections of the exhibition.


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