Show Report: Busy Pitti Uomo brightens the gloom
"We sell to 47 countries around the world and not one of those markets is showing positive growth." That off-the-record comment from a significant European menswear manufacturer neatly summed up the global economic backcloth to this week’s Pitti Uomo, the premier marketplace for classic and mainstream menswear.
Once again, however, the fair in Florence proved to be the catalyst for lifting the spirits of the sector. By Thursday morning, the third day of the four-day event showing spring-summer 2026 styles, most exhibitors were expressing better-than-anticipated satisfaction with the attendance and more importantly the calibre of the buyers.
"Footfall does seem to be slightly down from some countries, but the quality of the buyers is excellent," said one UK agent.
The UKFT took 38 exhibitors to this, the 108# edition of Pitti, and director Paul Alger reported that most were very satisfied with the business done and conversations had.
A first-time exhibitor with the British group was Oscar Deen, a London-based fashion sunglasses company, which showed in the show’s Superstyling section, which brings together contemporary and directional brands.
Tom Williams of first-time exhibitor Oscar Deen saw buyers from as far away as Ecuador and Mongolia
Sales Manager Tom Williams was telling this reporter he had been pleased to meet buyers from the UK, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Georgia, Canada and Japan when our talk was interrupted by two more visitors. They proved to be from Ecuador and Mongolia, a timely reminder of the extraordinary global pulling power of Pitti.
Healthy contingents from the USA, Japan, South Korea, the Middle East and from the major European markets was reported, especially by those in the classic and heritage sectors. There is widespread acceptance that despite the various directional and contemporary menswear areas at Pitti that segment is now dominated by the shows in Paris next week.
Julian Dunkerton on the Superdry stand
The Florence event remains the primary gateway to the Italian menswear market. Making a return to Pitti after a six-year absence was Superdry, which had a sizable stand in the Dynamic Attitude section. Founder and CEO Julian Dunkerton was in ebullient mood: "We are making great progress in the UK again because we are very good at making affordable clothes. We are here at Pitti to support Interjeans, our longtime Italian distributor. It’s the right moment to confirm Superdry is back."
At Weekend Offender, owner Aaron Thalmann and long-serving designer Sarah Burgess
On a similar mission was UK casualwear brand Weekend Offender, which is handled in Italy by BC Evolution. Aaron Thalmann, founder-owner of the Derby-based brand, was happy with what Pitti had delivered: "We have shown at Pitti only once, a few years ago when we weren’t really ready, and we are back now to support our Italian distributor. It’s been a good place to catch up with our German and Dutch distributors too, as well as seeing people from as far away as Japan and South Korea.
"Of course things are tough for everyone at present but we can also talk ourselves – and the consumers – into thinking things are worse than they are. We are doing well because we make good stuff at good prices, like £70 retail for Made-in-Turkey jeans and Tees from £35. We think we punch above our weight."
Back among the classic British manufacturers, the threat of US tariffs was a predictable, if unresolved, topic of conversation. With Trump’s 10% imports imposition currently paused, premium brands can only watch and wait. "It’s all a mess and mayhem," observed William Jones, Sales Director of Northampton footwear brand Crockett & Jones. "It’s just added to the existing challenges on all fronts: we have had increases in wages and NI contributions, weak currency in Japan, one of our major markets, which prompted a drop in wholesale demand. All we can do at present is wait and review the situation when it is clearer."
Among British and Irish retailer attendance, Pitti this week attracted "the usual suspects". Buyers from End, Harvey Nichols and Morleys Stores were joined a reasonable clutch of independents, including Richmond Classics in Bournemouth, Lynx in Harrogate, plus Louis Copeland and Brown Thomas, both from Dublin, and Hanley & Co in Galway.
The active UK buying group IMC brought 14 members, including four businesses that were visiting for the first time: Roxtons of Hungerford, Shepherd and Woodward in Oxford, Brigdens in Derby and Hector’s of Petersfield. Pitti Uomo is working with agent Simon Harris in the UK to attract more independents to the show.
Almost all retailers described trading as tough or challenging.
Among the general satisfaction there were some gripes about footfall being down, especially outside the main three-floor pavilion. Pitti’s General Manager Raffaello Napoleone confirmed provisional year-on-year drops of between 9% and 18% in buyer numbers from Germany and the Netherlands, while British buyer attendance rose by more than 7%. Spain was up over 6%, the US around 7% and Japan almost 4%.
"I am happy," he confirmed. "The market continues to evolve and we will evolve with it. For almost 40 years we have been guided by the strategy set in the late 1980s of our then-president Marco Rivetti (CEO of the Italian menswear conglomerate GFT, who died in 1996), who said Pitti Uomo is not just a trade show, it is an exhibition. We play a unique role in bringing together all sides of the sector in one place twice a year. We contribute to its well-being."
One widespread gripe heard from many Pitti exhibitors – including UKFT itself – is that four days is too long for a show in these times and the spring-summer edition at least should be reduced to three days. Ever the cautious politician, Napoleone simply stated the Pitti organisation is "working on it".
