Everything You Need to Know About Pitti Uomo’s June 2022 Edition
Stephen Garner
News Editor
Pitti Uomo will return live and in-person again this June, as the Italian trade show looks to reclaim its pre-pandemic status as one of the best men’s trade events in the world.
Slated to run from June 14-17 at Florence’s historic Fortezza da Basso, the trade fair is returning to a solo show format this season after a temporary run of combining it with the Pitti Bimbo and Pitti Filati fairs.
As the men’s industry prepares for another in-person fair, see here a round up of all the events, fashion shows and happenings taking place in Florence this June.
Soulland Debuts Spring 2023 Collection With Li-Ning Footwear
Copenhagen-based fashion brand Soulland unveiled its spring/summer 2023 “Vol. 01” collection on Wednesday night at the rooftop auditorium of the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence.
For this season, Soulland has taken a new approach to the categorizing of menswear and womenswear. For the first time since the brand introduced womenswear, the two lines have been merged to one gender free collection.
“For this season, we have broken down the lines between our menswear and womenswear and tried to build on something new,” said Silas Oda Adler, founder & creative director of Soulland. “Soulland is an energy, and this should be the focus. I have been working on finding a balance between menswear and womenswear for years. I love designing different silhouettes, but I don’t think it’s my job to decide or define who wears what and why. I think it’s time to break down some boundaries. This is a start of something new for us.”
This collection also saw the continuation of the brand’s collaboration with Chinese active running brand Li-Ning. The collaboration features the Yun You Slay slide, which features a unique warp-around design with an asymmetric open toe cap build on a 4cm thick light foam sole. Also included in the collab is the Exceed Infinity, the Shadow, and Furious Rider 6 sneakers.
Ann Demeulemeester Hosts Archive Retrospective
Belgian designer Ann Demeulemeester hosted an event at the Stazione Leopolda in Flforence on Wednesday night. Following January’s postponement, Demeulemeester herself curated the special project dedicated to her and the brand that bears her name.
“Florence and Pitti Immagine are finally ready to celebrate Ann Demeulemeester’s extraordinary work, a story that began forty years ago in Antwerp which, today, is strengthened by the new approach undertaken following the acquisition of the brand by Claudio Antonioli, Lapo Cianchi, director of communication and events at Pitti Immagine, said in a statement. “It is not a coincidence that the curatorial work carried out on the Archive on this occasion moves beyond the recovery of memories that are useful for citing in new collections and becomes a regular act of fashion: an artistic-esthetic intervention born out of a project design urgency, here and now. A gift for the whole Pitti community.”
Diadora Launches Sneaker with Pierre-Louis Mascia
Pierre-Louis Mascia gave a sneak peek at its new collaboration with Diadora, slated to drop in 2023. The two teamed up on one signature Diadora B560 style, which featured some of French brand’s signature fabrics and prints. The French fashion brand said this is its first sneaker collaboration, and it pairs with its new Vizir sportswear capsule.
Harrys of London to Drop the ‘of’ as It Readies Rebrand
Harrys of London is under construction. The UK-based footwear and accessories brand is debuting a new look, refined styles, and updated logo – without the “of”. Officially launching later this year, the brand will now be known as Harrys London and will feature a few of its best-selling styles along with a new range of more contemporary styles developed by its newly appointed creative director. The company, which is still owned by American real estate and movie billionaire Charles Cohen, has added a few more sneaker styles and a range of sandals, loafers and espadrilles for spring/summer 2023.
Scarosso Hosts Garden Cocktails
To celebrate Pitti Uomo 102, Scarosso hosted an intimate evening at Harry’s Bar – The Garden on Tuesday evening. The Italian footwear brand showcased some of its most popular collaborations along with a peek at what’s to come in 2023. Guests enjoyed drinks, food and live music.
Wales Bonner Debuts Spring/Summer ’23 Collection, New Adidas Footwear Styles at Pitti
English-Jamaican designer Grace Wales Bonner showed her spring/summer 2023 collection with a special runway show on Tuesday night at the Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence.
The collection offers a celebration of hand craftsmanship, exhibited through beaded macrame dresses and artisanal jewelry in a hybrid of baroque pearl, rock crystal and recycled glass beads made in Ghana. Hand dyed jerseys and woven cottons made in Burkina Faso alongside opera coats crafted from silk jacquard designs developed specially by the House of Charvet in Paris, unite hand making traditions across continents.
Along with these ideas, the designer also unveiled her latest collection with Adidas Originals. The capsule consists of “marathon-wear “in futuristic silver and handmade patent leather football boots.
Emily Ratajkowski Hosts Luncheon & Cocktail Party to Toast Superga Collab
Emily Ratajkowski hosted a private luncheon on Tuesday afternoon to mark her partnership with Superga, which launched earlier this year. For this collaborative capsule, Ratajkowski took her favorite 2750 and 2636 Alpina sneakers and tweaked them to feature off-white bindings and rounded laces. Dubbed 2750 Emrata and 2636 Alpina Emrata, the reworked pieces will come with an exclusive collaboration patch on the inside and a branded cotton bag. Later on Tuesday evening, the party continued at sunset cocktail party overlooking the city of Florence.
Soulland to Bring Its Spring 2023 Runway Show to Pitti Uomo
Soulland will host a fashion show event at the upcoming June edition of Pitti Uomo in Florence. The Copenhagen-based fashion brand will present its spring/summer 2023 collection at a location that has yet to be revealed.
“I’m super excited and honored to show at Pitti Uomo,” said Silas Oda Adler, founder and creative director of Soulland, in a statement. “The Renaissance city of Florence is a tremendously beautiful setting and contrast to our Copenhagen roots. The historically importance of Pitti Uomo speaks loud and clear with its combination of heritage and tradition, while always pushing for a new and relevant agenda within menswear. It’s exactly somewhere between this timelessness and the effort for a new responsible agenda that you will find Soulland.”
Soulland was founded in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2002. Through Soulland, Adler and CEO Jacob Kampp Berliner present their take on the contemporary fashion brand. Through its global network, Soulland strives to push fashion forward by promoting open-mindedness, responsible production, and freedom in creativity. Throughout the years Soulland have collaborated with brands, stores, and artists such as Nike, Playboy, André, Colette, Olafur Eliasson, Li-Ning and many more.
Ann Demeulemeester Named Guest of Honor
Designer Ann Demeulemeester has been named the “Guest of Honor” at the upcoming Pitti Immagine Uomo in Florence. In fact, following last January’s postponement, the Belgian designer herself will be curating the special project dedicated to her and the brand that bears her name at the Stazione Leopolda.
Part of the “Antwerp Six,” Demeulemeester graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp in 1981. She launched her eponymous label and her first commercial collection in 1987 with her longstanding creative partner Patrick Robyn. Her first fashion show in Paris in 1992 has put her immediately on the international fashion map.
Her intelligent approach to fashion rises above trends and offers a continually evolving system of dressing with integrity and fierce independence. Demeulemeester left her label in 2013 and ever since has experimented with a variety of new expressive formats.
In 2020, the Ann Demeulemeester label was purchased by Claudio Antonioli, Milan entrepreneur and talent scouter, who took the reins of the brand in hand with great respect for its past and a clear vision of the future. His mission is to reposition Ann Demeulemeester as a luxury fashion brand, while remaining faithful to its image.
“Florence and Pitti Immagine are finally ready to celebrate Ann Demeulemeester’s extraordinary work,” said Lapo Cianchi, director of communication and events at Pitti Immagine, in a statement. “A gift for the whole Pitti community.”
Wales Bonner Named Guest Designer
Grace Wales Bonner has been named the next guest designer of Pitti Uomo. The English-Jamaican designer will showcase the spring/summer 2023 collection from her eponymous label, Wales Bonner, with a fashion show. Specific event details are not yet known.
This announcement marks a return of Pitti’s slate of fashion show events that happen in tandem with the menswear trade fair. Guest designer brand Ann Demeulemeester was originally scheduled to be the first company post-pandemic to host a special event at Pitti during the January show. The brand’s participation was later postponed to the June edition at the time due to the spread of Omicron.
Bonner launched her collection following her graduation from Central Saint Martins in 2014. Established as a menswear brand, Wales Bonner’s soulful tailoring soon expanded to womenswear and has received numerous awards including Emerging Menswear Designer at the British Fashion Awards (2015), the LVMH Young Designer Prize (2016), Winner of the British Fashion Council/ Vogue Designer Fashion Fund (2019) and CFDA International Men’s Designer of the Year (2021).
Pitti Slated to Run as a Solo Show This June
Pitti Uomo has announced it will return to a solo show format this June after a temporary run of combining it with the Pitti Bimbo and Pitti Filati fairs dedicated to childrenswear and yarn-makers, respectively.
At the onset of the COVID-19 health emergency, the Florentine trade fairs’ organizer moved online with the Pitti Connect digital space, where virtual editions of its trade shows were hosted for over a year and a half until June 2021.
Last summer, Pitti Immagine reprised its physical format combining for the first time the three fashion-related shows under its umbrella. For the two editions since July 2021, the three trade fairs were held concurrently, forcing Pitti Filati to temporarily relocate to the Stazione Leopolda venue, a necessary move that didn’t entirely please exhibitors.
Impacted by the pandemic, attendance and exhibitors’ numbers at the two most recent in-person shows were lower than pre-pandemic. In January, for instance, 548 brands presented their fall 2022 collections, drawing around 8,000 visitors, with about 4,000 of those visitors accounting for buyers. This figure is up, however, from the June 2021 edition, which saw a total of 6,000 visitors. For context, the last pre-pandemic Pitti Uomo, which took place in January 2020, saw 36,000 visitors.
But ultimately, Raffaello Napoleone, CEO of Pitti Immagine, was pleased with the turnout in January. “We are happy with the way things went at the Fortezza da Basso,” Napoleone said in a statement. “Together with the new collections, they brought great energy and passion. I also thank the Italian and international buyers who decided to travel in this particularly complex moment and have done so with the right spirit, cautious but calm and determined.”
