Isetan Shinjuku Men's Store is collaborating with Pitti Immagine Uomo (hereafter Pitti), the world's largest men's fashion fair, to host an event until July 16th. Large screen displays show views of the venue and fashion snaps of visitors, while Pitti brands, which the store buys, are on display in the sales area. Shota Kondo, sales manager for the Men's & Sportswear Sales Department at Isetan Shinjuku, who organized the event, said, "Pitti is well-known among buyers and the media as a comprehensive men's fashion exhibition that brings together men's fashion trends for the next six months. Recently, as a fashion event that attracts fashion industry figures, the venue's street snaps have become popular in men's magazines, and its popularity among general consumers has skyrocketed. We thought it would be a great opportunity to capture the atmosphere of the season, so we asked for a collaboration."

Indeed, men's magazines such as Leon have been very popular with their special editions featuring street snaps of fashion industry figures who gather at Pitti, boasting sales numbers approaching those of their main magazines. Pitti, which is the first to exhibit around 1,000 brands in an exhibition format prior to the London, Milan and Paris Men's Collections and which expresses the season's trends over four days, has a unique atmosphere. This unique atmosphere may be due in large part to the venue being Florence, which still retains vestiges of the Middle Ages. Antonio Cristaudo, Marketing and Development Director at Pitti Immagine Uomo (the company that organizes fashion exhibitions, including Pitti), who visited Japan to inspect the collaboration, explained, "Isetan approached us six months ago. Of the approximately 1,000 brands we exhibit, Isetan purchases approximately 200. We decided to collaborate with them because we thought this collaboration would allow us to appeal to Tokyo's fashion-conscious consumers in a new way that Pitti had never tried before. This is also the first time for us to work on such an initiative with a retailer." This is Cristaudo's second visit to Japan, and he had this to say about Tokyo and its fashion: "You can see the city's fashion by riding the subway. Tokyo is extremely vibrant, with a large young population that never ceases to intrigue. I also believe that the quality of Isetan Men's Building is among the best in the world." Pitti Uomo selects a guest brand each time and stages a runway show for them. Pitti Uomo has shown a strong interest in emerging Japanese fashion in recent years, with White Mountaineering selected for the January event and kolor for the June event that just concluded. "You could say that (laughs). Personally, I think Italians and Japanese are the only people who are serious about expressing themselves through fashion (laughs)." This time, in addition to the event at the Men's Building, there is also a link between the Isetan Men's Building and the Pitti website. Cristaudo commented, "This was our first collaboration, and I think it turned out well. I can't say anything specific yet, but I'd like to continue working on various initiatives step by step."