Pitti Uomo closes a record edition

By

Dominique Muret

Published
Jan 16, 2015

"It was a big and beautiful Pitti Uomo! An extraordinary edition with a much bigger crowd than we were expecting. From the offer, with a record 1,200 exhibitors, to the organisation, it was a flawless event," said the delighted CEO of the menswear trade show, Raffaello Napoleone, who was also pleased with the success of the special events organised by the fair.

"Between the new talents, the runway show by such a big label as Marni, and the performance by Olivier Saillard and Tilda Swinton, there was a great chemistry. That doesn't happen every time," he pointed out. Another successful element, "Born in the USA" and "Unconventional", the new sections offered at this 87th edition, which were particularly popular.

According to the first estimates gathered by the organisers, the trade fair, which took place in Florence from 13 to 16 January, attracted nearly 24,000 buyers, compared to 20,800 last year, with an 18% increase (20% for the Italian buyers and 13% for foreigners).

The huge amount of visitors that descended upon the Fortezza da Basso, where the trade fair is held, is only one sign of how successful the event was, with another one being the atmosphere, that could be taken in among the stands with all the exhibitors and buyers who were satisfied on the whole. On the first day notably there was a soaring 75% increase in visitors, a jump mainly due to the change in dates for Pitti Uomo, which started on 7 January last year, at the very beginning of the bi-annual sales period.

The first trade fair of the fall/winter 2015-16 season, this Pitti Uomo is thus a good omen for the others to come. The cancellation of Bread & Butter could be seen in Florence in the strong increase in buyers from Northern Europe, while the financial crisis in Russia resulted in fewer buyers from Russia and the Ukraine.

For the rest, the Italians are showing strong growth, while the Europeans as a whole recorded double-digit progress with France on top. There was a pleasant surprise on the part of the Japanese as well, whose numbers show an increase despite a still delicate economic situation.