Show report: Pitti Uomo proves its pulling power

“It’s almost back to pre-COVID levels,” commented one veteran British visitor to Pitti Uomo Immagine in Florence as Wednesday, the second day of the four-day event, enjoyed packed aisles like the opening day.

If there is a widespread feeling that 2025 will be a challenging year for multi-brand independents across the UK and Ireland, the conclusion from Pitti is that many retailers are ready to rise to the challenges.

Always good observers of the scene, agents reported a willingness for forward-looking buyers to seek out something new. Daniel Cutler, UK and EU wholesale director for Rodd & Gunn, an urban lifestyle collection from New Zealand, saw 20 clients on Tuesday, including a dozen from the Irish Republic.

“Since COVID, good retailers have begun to remember that their most important brand name is the one that’s above the door, so they are looking at the product, not the label,” he said. “There is still a tremendous amount of discounting of brands going on and even if it is not on current season stock, it still devalues the brands involved. Independent retailers need something new in the product mix.”

On the stand of Portuguese footwear brand Ambitious, Marc Querol Pio, director of London-based Double H Agency, observed that even buyers who had experienced a tough 2024 ought to make the trip to Florence: “Today the appeal of the show is that it serves both the mainstream menswear sector and those looking for trendy niche brands.  It has to be worth at least a day’s visit.”

John Lambert, who owns the eight-strong County Clothes chain in south-east England, was on his second visit to Pitti as part of the IMC buying group party: “After my first trip last June this is my first autumn-winter Pitti and I’m finding it easier to absorb things. The first visit was overpowering just because of the size of the show. I’m finding a lot of inspiration about how I can present things in my shop and I’ve placed a few orders. As a mainstream retailer it’s too easy to tend to stick to the brands you know. The IMC group is encouraging its members to try new things.”

“Independents have got to trade up, to deal with brands that give them a good margin and a point of difference,” said agent Iain Leighton, who was on the stand of German trouser specialist Meyer, where visitors included a five-strong party of buyers from Glasgow-based Slater Menswear.

For the first time this season the number of German exhibitors at Pitti Uomo has exceeded the number of British firms. In June 2024 French exhibitors overtook the UK group to be the most numerous after the Italians. The UK has now slipped into fourth place; Paul Alger, director of British group organiser UKFT, is quick to point out that the British government has given no grants to assist exhibitors since 2021, in contrast to its EU counterparts.

Among the 44 brands of the UKFT group, there was widespread satisfaction with how the first two days had performed, with a strong turnout from buyers from Italy, German, Spain, the Netherlands, but reportedly fewer from the US, Japan and South Korea. Exhibitors reported plenty of Russians in attendance despite the sanctions on trade with Ukraine’s invader. Pitti publishes attendance figures after the show.

Construction work continues at the Fortezza da Basso complex, which has reduced the space available to the Pitti organisers. British exhibitors relocated from their usual positions in the Arsenale building were pleasantly surprised at the effectiveness of their new situation on the upper floor of the main central pavilion.

“We were given only four weeks’ notice of the change, so we were apprehensive about the effect, but this has worked out well,” said Megan Sanders, of Northants-based footwear brand Sanders, who is the fifth generation of the family and the first female to be a director of the company. “The show seems a lot busier than January a year ago and in this new venue we have seen a better mix of people, including lots of Italians, other Europeans and Scandinavians. Conversely, we’ve seen fewer Japanese, probably due to the economic situation there. We saw one customer who used to come with five or six colleagues pre-COVID; this time he was on his own.”

On the adjacent stand Alastair Croots of Yorkshire-based bag maker Croots was also satisfied with the new position and the show’s footfall: “It’s not just about numbers. This show brings in the right sort of customers.”

Despite its reputation as a classic and mainstream event, Pitti Uomo provides a potent international meeting place for more contemporary and sporty collections. In the Dynamic Attitude section of the show, Pentland-owned outdoor brand Berghaus was showing retro styles from its Icons collection for the second winter season. The “technical products with fashion appeal” included the Meru jacket favoured by Liam Gallagher of Oasis in the late 1990s and the team reported lots of interest from markets as far apart as China and Germany.

In the same area and back at Pitti Uomo for the first time in eight years was British technical sportswear brand Ma.Strum, which also had a busy time. Global head of sales Simon Walker remarked: “If you want to be noticed internationally, you have to be here. It’s hard to achieve that recognition from the UK. We have lots of interest from retailers, plus from people who potentially can represent us in overseas markets.”

With almost half the 107^th edition of the show completed, Pitti’s long-serving general manager Raffaello Napoleone was satisfied but not surprised at the encouraging attendance. He said: “When the global market is difficult, as it is now, people need to meet. But they cannot afford to meet in several places as they do in good times. So Pitti is the place to be because it’s the only place where the entire world of menswear – retailers, suppliers, manufacturers, textiles producers, everyone – comes together. But we are still selective and full of context. Time at Pitti is never wasted time. People arrive home feeling richer for having been at Pitti Uomo.”

Main image: Courtesy, Pitti Uomo. All other images: Eric Musgrave