Pitti Uomo Shows Fashion Industry’s Optimism Despite Choppy Conditions

FLORENCE — Fashion brands and buyers who assembled for Pitti Uomo struck an upbeat tone, pointing to strong foot traffic and orders placed during the bi-annual trade fair as signs the industry is turning the corner after a prolonged slump.

Around 5,000 foreign buyers attended the fair, in line with last January’s edition, the best showing since the covid pandemic. The number of Italian buyers, however, fell about 8 percent to 7,600, a reflection of the country’s challenged fashion and apparel industries. Like many trade fairs, Pitti struggled to regain its footing in the wake of covid, with fewer than 5,000 buyers – foreign and Italian combined – showing up in January 2022.

The fashion industry’s first temperature gauge of the year comes as it grapples with a two-year downturn that has weighed on results at large bellwethers as well as thousands of small and medium-sized companies forming the backbone of the industry in Italy, France and other countries.

Analysts forecast revenue growth for the sector this year of about 5 to 6 percent. The aspirational side of the market, which is heavily represented at Pitti Uomo, will be key to the recovery of the wider industry.

“I’ve never seen this much traffic at the January show,” said Aleksandra Borycz, global brand manager for Beverly Hills Polo Club who has attended Pitti more than a dozen times. “We’ve taken orders from buyers from Dubai, Africa and across Europe.”

For most brands, traffic at the stands will only convert to eventual orders in the coming weeks as buyers return home and sort through samples. While the industry has largely absorbed last year’s US tariffs – and they might be overturned by the Supreme Court in the coming weeks – converting orders can prove challenging as the dollar remains weak and geopolitical uncertainty abounds.

“The exchange rate is hurting everybody here and then add that we wake up every morning not knowing where the latest missiles have fallen,” said Antonio De Matteis, the chairman of Pitti Uomo parent Pitti Immagine and the chief executive of Kiton, an Italian maker of men’s suits that can retail for more than $10,000.

Saks Global’s bankruptcy filing this week has brought further uncertainty, particularly for the many Pitti participants who don’t have their own shops and rely on multi-brand stores.

Pitti Uomo comes as Italian manufacturers, which account for about half of the sector’s output, and some of fashion’s top global brands continue to struggle to shake off a string of supply chain scandals in the country.

Giuliana Borzillo, co-founder with her husband of Id.Eight, which makes sneakers manufactured 70 percent from recycled industrial waste, said that despite her limited budget, Pitti remains a must-attend event.

“I might plant a seed here at Pitti that blooms a year later,” said Borzillo. “Pitti is all about making contacts, not just with buyers, but also creators and influencers.”

Brands showing from the United Kingdom were particularly optimistic.

“Quite a few of our brands are saying this is their best Pitti since covid,” said Daniel Connolly, senior executive of the UK Fashion & Textile Association, which represents more than 40 British brands showing their wares at Pitti Uomo. “Pitti is still the place where you come to meet people.”