Pitti Uomo 2011 Firenze, Italia

Pitti Uomo 2011

Pitti Uomo is recognized around the world by all designers but now I can say I have successfully experienced an international trade show, as a student and not a vendor or buyer. Who has these opportunities? By far one of the most memorable experience here in this program yet.  I first thought it would be in the Pitti Palazzo but due to its rapid growth, it needed to be moved to Fortezza da Basso for more room.

    As we were walking we had to go through a long path from one area to another guiding us to the entrance. It felt like a secret passage way. Behind me, I overheard a compratore (buyer) talk to a man about her job and her difficulties. She was explaining how she needs to research trends and understand her target market very well. She must meet certain mark ups and even though every other store may have it but her market does not want it, she said it is not worth buying it to have it sit on display and lose money and most importantly her job.  Buyers have heavy responsibilities and must know how to build and keep relationships as well as being an excellent negotiator. 

 The entrance was bombarded with buyers entering with business on their mind. Vendors walked in with suitcases, photographers taking pictures of buyers and press everywhere. I was memorized for a little over a half hour just snapping pictures of every buyer I could see. If these are the people who put what we buy on the racks, the way they dress is important to me. I noticed that most of the buyers dressed casual with nice jeans, loafers and finished with a blazer while some wore suits.  Women and men would wear elegant and classy outfits but make it more casual with converse sneakers.  There were shorter hemlines for men shorts and colorful cuffed pants worn by both men and women. (Pictures are at the bottom)

Can't Stop Fashion sign

Buyers, Press & Vendors walking into Pitti

            We finally entered the area and saw the building with all the vendors and the area for press only.  The first building we entered was classy, sharp and sophisticated. There were mostly men buyers in suits and some with jeans walking around talking to old friends, vendors and buyers as if this was not only a day to work but to catch up with one another. I overheard a vendor and a buyer talking at the desk about the quality and fabric of the shirt. The vendor was explaining the fabric content, design detail and the colors it came in.  Desk were filled with swatch books, catalogue of the entire collections and purchase orders. Vendors dressed to represent their company by either wearing the product or wearing something with similar style.  Colors and patterns were the first to stand out for me but mainly shades of red, pink, navy, gray and blues such as navy blue, watermelon, mint green and everlast green.  Checkers and stripes ranging from all sizes covered button down shirts and blazers. Blazers, knits, v-neck shirts and crisp button downs will be seen in different colors for Spring/Summer 2012.  Each designer had a booth that was decorated to complement the collection and the companies’ image therefore it was an easy tool to pick up on the companies image.  

Shorter hemline for Men shorts

  Pitti was a very entertaining event especially going in and out of each building. I noticed each building was designed differently for the companies target market. For example, My Factory was a building with edgy and  some bohemian influences therefore the room appeared to look distressed like a factory would look after some years. Each building gave a different atmosphere and comfortable environment. Some had DJ’s playing music to complete the right environment for the vendors and their companies.  As we walked in to My Factory we approached the Civic Duty table, which presented very unique crinkled paper sneakers in various shades of color.  The latest and newest designs were shown in this building marketed to a market with limitless expression and free spirited.

Desigual Building

            Walking towards the end of the area we passed the Spanish street wear company, Desigual and of course had to stop. The building was decorated like a Tiki house, music coming from the ceiling and a woman making smoothies. There were so many designers that physically built a store with incredible entrances and window displays.

            The last building was by far one of the most rewarding only because we were able to pick up famous trend magazines, newspapers and advertisements that I would never have even seen in America. Most importantly, there was an area with binders dedicated to trends for upcoming seasons such as wovens, knits, patterns, fabric, shoes, jeans etc. I believe I have become more keen to future trends due to the Fashion Forecasting class I took. I was glued to them and tried to absorb every trend possible. I did notice some trends that I researched for class in the books which gave me a great feeling of accomplishment.  There were sample of fabric and embellishments throughout the books as well as detailed sketches of some upcoming trends.

Casual but classy

            As we left Pitti, I was carrying two huge bags of magazines, advertisements and a trend book. I looked online about Pitti Uomo to research how each day went. I read that some designers had models walking around outside and through the buildings for free and affective advertisement but most importantly to show the collections theme.  It was overall one of the best experiences to date.

   

On June 16th