The June 2024 edition of Pitti Immagine Uomo took place in Florence, Italy, from 11 – 14 June with 50 UK brands taking part. The UK group was the third largest this year for the first time after Italy and France.

This year’s event had the theme of Pitti Lemon, intended to be uplift an industry which has been under pressure post-Covid with the slow return or comparative lack of a number of countries which traditionally make up the lion’s share of the “Made in Italy” menswear machine. There were 790 brands overall, 56% of which were Italian. This was around 35 fewer than in June 2023, but the Fortezza da Basso complex is being renovated in certain areas (Roman remains permitting) and the show generally felt full and well laid out.

Speaking about the UK’s drop to third place after Italy and France, UKFT’s International Business Director, Paul Alger said: “Sadly, the inevitable has happened and the UK has lost its cherished third place at Pitti Uomo to France. The reason for this is clear: since 2021 when the UK ended its tradeshow grant support programme, only larger and more established UK companies have been able to afford the investment. Conversely, our competitors from France benefit from grants of between 50% and 65%. UKFT very much hopes that the UK position on this will change after the elections so that we can start to support the next generation of British brands at the show.”

In spite of this drop, the UK was well represented at the show and on the first evening Sir Paul Smith returned to Florence as Pitti Uomo’s guest of honour with a presentation of the current mainline collection at the Villa Favard. UKFT met with Sir Paul, accompanied by HM Deputy Consul from Milan, Serena Corti as well as many famous industry personalities and journalists, including the Suzy Menkes.

According to the organisers’ official figures, the show was visited by approximately 15,000 visitors of which 12,000 represented retailers from across the globe to explore the spring-summer 2025 menswear collections. Non-Italian buyer numbers increased slightly compared with June 2023 making up 46%. At the same time, the organisers have confirmed that the number of Italian visitors dropped by 7%.

After the host nation, the most important visiting countries in order of importance were: Germany, The Netherlands, Great Britain, Spain, Japan, Turkey, United States, France, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Poland, South Korea, Russia and China.

Pitti Immagine’s CEO, Raffaello Napoleone, said: “The [presence] of international buyers – those who are the market and indicate the [trend] – are important indicators for exhibitors, they give confidence and perspective. The number of Italian attendees, however, was lower than in 2023 but this was widely expected, considering the closure of many shops in the last two, three years and the less than dynamic trend of Italian consumption.”

The UK companies show in Florence primarily because of its appeal for international buyers, with the UK brands confirming that they had seen most of the international store groups, even if some were said to be planning to send their buying teams on to Milan and Paris Fashion Weeks. Buyers from Saks 5^th Avenue, Ships Japan, United Arrows, Galeries Lafayette, Hankyu, United Arrows, Lane Crawford and Harvey Nichols Qatar were certainly seen as were some retailers from Russia and Kazakhstan. The inclusion of Russia in the top 15 list of buyers by country raised a number of eyebrows this season but came as no surprise as the Italian industry continues to target and be welcome in that market at most pricepoints in spite of the EU sanctions.

UK retailers End, Harvey Nichols London, Debenhams.com and Next were among the big UK names at the show but some of the more luxury UK retailers were said to be looking to visit other cities including Milan and Copenhagen this season.

The show got off to an encouraging start on Tuesday and Wednesday, with some buyers still at the show on Thursday. Buyers from Asia increased on Wednesday and Thursday before moving to Milan and Paris on Thursday evening. Most UK companies had travelled to Florence with limited expectations because of the state of trade in the world and the ongoing costs and challenges to UK businesses represented by Brexit but the majority of the UK companies said that they had seen their regular customers and that they were optimistic that orders would come as a result of their presence at the show. Some questioned whether they would be able to afford to invest in both editions of the show without government grants at a time when the number of active independents and store groups remains on a downward trend. Others were more upbeat, confirming that they had had a better show in January – which had had been slower than usual.

As is often the case in the summer, the show was almost completely empty on Friday, leading most UK companies to conclude that the summer edition (at least) should be made into a three day show. This feeling was felt especially strongly as the cost of hotel accommodation and restaurants has risen sharply in the city over recent years with very little availability in the summer. UKFT will be speaking with the show organisers to reinforce the UK’s long-held position on this at a time when Florence’s tourist boom makes the “Pitti bubble” less desirable to an already overcrowded city than it once was.

Paul Alger concluded: “The majority of UK brands at the show have said they made the right decision to come and that they have met many interesting retailers and potential customers. As the season continues, we hope these meetings will turn to concrete orders.”

Speaking specifically about the lack of grants for UK companies, Alger said: “Most of this market is made up of family businesses and innovative brands which are trying to compete with massively supported brands from France, Italy and other countries. UKFT very much hopes that there will be more support from government in future to enable us to redress the balance and give UK companies a level playing-field at Pitti Uomo, the world’s leading international menswear show.”

UKFT GLOBAL BRANDS