The bellwether men’s wear fair, which ends its four-day run here Friday, clearly has come a long way since it launched in February 1972 at the Hotel Villa Medici, with 43 brands in its stable and a total of 526 buyers, 98 of which came from abroad.
Today, Pitti exhibits more than 1,200 collections and attracts 20,000-plus buyers from all over the world. “Basically, if you are not at Pitti, you are not in men’s wear,” said Patrik Sonesson, distribution manager at Swedish rainwear label Stutterheim, which has been coming to the fair for 10 years and just opened its first New York store on Mulberry Street.
Among the trends at this year Pitti Uomo that the buyers embraced, were unisex silhouettes, brands that mixed casual and formal wear such as soft knitted jackets, and an array of offerings with an artisanal aesthetic.
Pitti Uomo stands at the epicenter of men’s street style. Here is a selection of the best looks of the show.