The 93rd Pitti Immagine Uomo, the fashion industry's first major salon of 2018, was held for four days from January 9th at the Fortezza da Basso in Florence, Italy.

The theme of this year's event, which predicted the trends for the Fall/Winter 2018-19 season, was "PITTI LIVE MOVIE." The main pavilion's plaza was decorated like a film studio, and the venue was designed to be "social media-friendly," with billboards and ticket booths showcasing the venue's theme in a cinematic style. The enthusiasm of visitors eager to enjoy this biannual men's fashion festival was greater than ever.

The Pitti People, regulars at fashion snaps, are not only from Italy and Europe, but have now spread to Africa, Oceania, Northern Europe, Eastern Europe and Asia, giving the impression that the event has completely transformed into a salon where magazine editors, bloggers, buyers, manufacturers and others can deepen their global interactions (fashion snaps from inside the venue will be posted later).






Visits from Japanese select shops are on the rise, with brands like Camoshita United Arrows continuing to exhibit at FUTURE MACHILE, which Pitti Uomo has positioned as a concept lab for contemporary men's fashion, and BEAMS exhibiting in collaboration with Champion in the IPLAY zone, which brings together new urban sportswear that transcends traditional sportswear. Buyers at the venue are also attracting attention as regulars at Snapshot.

Among Japanese manufacturers, SPINGLE MOVE, known for its vulcanized sneakers, and RESOLUTE, known among jeans enthusiasts for its original power loom fabrics and its unprecedented 86-size range for one model, are among the representative American casual brands made in Japan that have exhibited at the show for over 10 years, steadily building up a track record of business negotiations at the show.

"We are no longer in an era where people will be interested in something or have their quality recognized simply because it is Made in Japan. It will be difficult unless you can clearly show what makes it different from other companies just because it is Made in Japan. We don't change our products every season, and have been exhibiting for five years with just four models of jeans, and we have not changed our COD trading conditions at all from the beginning. As we have held more and more Pitti shows, more and more specialty stores are willing to carry our products under those conditions. There have been many talks of collaboration, but for now we have turned them all down. We have no intention of changing our attitude of pursuing denim as an industrial product rather than as a fashion brand," says Resolute designer Hayashi Yoshiyuki.

RESOLUTE
RESOLUTE designer Hayashi Yoshiyuki

Also, TOOT, a three-dimensional molded men's underwear brand which exhibited for the first time in June last year, pulled off a surprise on the first day by having a male model walk around the venue clad only in briefs. The event was broadcast on local TV programs, and it became a new topic of conversation as it attracted attention for a different aspect to the popular Japanese fashion trends of katakana, kanji, anime, and Japanese patterns.

Tooto's Guerrilla Show

KURODA, a specialized glove manufacturer headquartered in Kagawa Prefecture and exhibiting at the MAKE pavilion, exhibited boro sashiko gloves for Pitti Uomo. It appears that each company is experimenting to see if products that go deeper than indigo and denim can be accepted overseas as Japanese luxury.

KURODA's Sashiko Gloves

In addition, six brands that won the 4th TOKYO FASHION AWARD, BODYSONG., KUON, soe, DIGAWEL, Children of the discordance, and F/CE.®, will be moving to the TOUCH zone. In the UNCONVENTIONAL zone, where Sulvam and the award have been exhibited until now, China's 8ON8, Taiwan's IN DICE STUDIO and young brands from Scandinavia have set up booths, but it is worrying that there are no emerging Japanese brands to be seen in the zone that proposes a luxurious underground style.

Text: Tatsuya Noda