PITTI UOMO: MORE, MORE MORE!

As anyone who’s been to Pitti Uomo will confirm, work and play merge seamlessly since attending amazing parties can hardly be considered labor. WOLF est 1834, the premier name in luxury jewelry, accessories, watch boxes, cases, and watch winders, hosted a spectacular event, swing band included.

The IED dinner by PITTI, held at the Piazza Ognissante, presented a creative capsule collection by IED students. Unfortunately, the celebration got rained out after about an hour.

Food and wine are always wonderful when dining in Florence and this trip was no exception. Among our extraordinary evenings, dinners at Giostra and Buca Mario. As we all know, these types of dinners encourage feasting, imbibing, sharing ideas, and building lasting friendships.

For those who admire the Peacocks of Pitti Uomo, take a look at this photo and let me know what you think the lady in the white sweater was saying as she gazed at this crowd?

And now a few more DLS product recommendations:

Woven shirts for spring ’23 will feature colors, stripes, and prints. I loved the washed fabrics from SONRISA, and those from GALLIA, with many tasty details, were a real find. (GALLIA also showed a great collection of colorful patterned knitwear.) Another favorite: RODD & GUNN linen shirts in lots of great colors.

In knitwear, CROSSLEY was strong in detail, color, and pricing, all Made in Italy. At FLY 3, we placed an order on the spot to ensure early delivery of their strong selection of cottons. FEDELI showed an impressive color assortment in their cotton SS polos. The brand I had the most fun reviewing was PIACENZA: the way they mixed and played with patterns and colors was most unusual; I found myself mesmerized by the displays.

The three pant brands that most wowed me were GERMANO for their fancies and model treatments,  40 WEFT for the colors, styles, and models in casual pants,  and HANDPICKED (part of Incotex Blue) for their colored denim.

Swimwear is clearly a growing category at retail as vacation-starved customers are traveling again. We loved the printed swimsuits from Mc2 Saint Barth. They pair perfectly with washed linen shirts and colorful boat shoes from Swims!

Of course, the Italians are famous for their footwear. I fell in love with Amedeo Testoni, made in Bologna since 1929. Their shoe of the season features a comfortable SNEAKER bottom with a dressier upper in leather and suede. But spring ’23 is more than dressed-up sneakers. Espadrilles are back by popular demand, as are driving mocs, newly updated with color and texture in both suedes and leathers.

As for all-around great luxury brands, how could we not mention Brunello Cucinelli? We met with Massimo Caronna (President & CEO of North America) who gave us a truly inspirational presentation.

Although there are too many great Italian accessory brands to list here, we strongly believe that accessories make the look and that one cannot truly dress Italian without the appropriate finishing touches.

A final note: so much of the conversation at Pitti was about Supply Chain issues. In a nutshell: brands are seriously concerned about getting piece goods since the mills no longer have stock like they did pre-pandemic, plus the brands are all going after the same top mills. Clearly, fabric will go to whichever brands have the biggest wallet. Of course, manufacturers don’t want to place their fabric and yarn orders until they get confirmed orders from the retailers. So our advice to retailers: shop early!