Menswear starts again from Florence

Growth in Italian exports, new city infrastructures and a strong focus on green investments with a view to recycling products. These are the strong messages of confidence in the future of the sector launched yesterday morning during the opening ceremony of Pitti immagine uomo 101, held at the Fortezza da Basso. A meeting that opened with greetings from Antonella Mansi, president of the Florence center for Italian fashion and that also served to take stock of the challenges of 2022 for Made in Italy fashion, at its first appointment at the beginning of the year.

«Fashion is 90 billion in turnover in Italy, just to give a figure, the GDP of Italian fashion is higher than that of France and Germany in the aerospace sector», explained Claudio Marenzi, president of Pitti immagine, continuing, «Making this fair was very difficult, it was much easier to cancel it. The healthy decision was made with a view to supporting a sector that is recovering, but also leaves some wounds behind, especially upstream in the supply chain. And then 101 is a palindrome number, it will be a sign of great restart».

Sergio Tamborini, in his first speech at Pitti uomo as president of Sistema moda Italia, spoke about the metaverse and sustainability in relation to the recycling of materials: «One of the great challenges will be that of the metaverse, if it is not only communication but a business factor, if we think, for example, that 150 billion euro will be circulating in the art world in 2021. In this case it will be necessary to change the paradigm in the companies and the relationships with a consumer that we don't even know. But the metaverse must also come to terms with something real, so the product must be at the center». Tamborini then provided the numbers of menswear Made in Italy: «In 2021, although it grew by 11.9% over 2020, about 1 billion of turnover is missing compared to 2019. A spotty recovery, with formal still suffering, shirts relatively, while knitwear and sportswear are growing strong. And then there is the crucial issue of sustainability, and in this case there are only two directions: either we consume less, knowing that we are putting a system in crisis, bearing in mind that 15% of those employed worldwide are in the textile sector, or we recycle».

With this in mind, on the sidelines of the inauguration, Tamborini announced to MFF: «In the next few days, the first consortium for fashion recycling will be operational. It will be called Retex.green and will be open to the entire fashion world, not only textiles but also leather, and unlike the consortia in other sectors, it will also involve the upstream of the supply chain».

On the other hand, Carlo Maria Ferro, president of the Ice agency, spoke about the new institutional investments to help companies export, recalling the 22 years of collaboration with the Florentine trade fair organization. «Pitti is an example because it knows how to look at future challenges with the courage to think about normality, with the vision of a new model between physical and digital. We contributed to the incoming of 65 buyers from 20 countries».

Ferro then added: «We start again from conforming data, with the first ten months of 2021, those currently available, where Italian exports grew by 18.6% compared to 2020 and 5% on 2019. As Ice we are working on the export pact, a booster with 19 new actions for usable services to companies. Among those most related to the themes of Pitti are digital channels, with showcases in marketplaces for 7 thousand small businesses, but also the digitization of companies or sustainability, with the traceability service in a blockchain perspective, or the proximity to the districts of excellence with the Italian regional offices».

The mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella, on the other hand, spoke about the city's trade fair infrastructure and the future of the Fortezza da Basso, beginning his speech by asking for a minute's silence for the passing of Florentine David Sassoli, president of the European parliament. «We are here for a message of hope and optimism and therefore I am happy that after the first lot of the restoration for the walls and delivery of the works of the second lot, the council has approved the realization of the final project of the new Bellavista pavilion, 5 thousand square meters with conference rooms for 2,500 seats. An investment of 20 million euros, with the assignment of the works in 2022 that will be started after Pitti in January 2023. In addition, the great Italian architect Stefano Boeri will sign the restoration of the Cavaniglia pavilion and the design of the Machiavelli is also at an advanced stage, which together with the Cavaniglia will be started after Pitti in June 2023, and then move on to the Central pavilion immediately afterwards». Nardella then continued: «There is no fair within a five-minute walk in the historic heart of the city and from the high-speed train, and then another piece of the city's fairgrounds, the Palazzo dei Congressi, has finished its work as well as the new auditorium of the Maggio musicale, inaugurated in December».

Eugenio Giani, President of the Region of Tuscany, has instead centered his speech on the restart of fashion in reference to a historic date for the sector. «In 2022 it will be 70 years since the first public event in the Sala bianca of Palazzo Pitti in 1952, thanks to the intuition of Giovanni Battista Giorgini, and precisely in times of post-war reconstruction, fashion was the protagonist. Today, after two years, we must do everything to go from pandemic to endemic». (all rights reserved)