Pitti Immagine Uomo: organizers consider holding physical fair in July
According to what is being reported by fashionnetwork.com, the second all-digital edition of the famous menswear fair reported a substantial increase in online traffic. As a result, organizers are considering holding a physical edition in July
According to the numbers released by the Florence-located fair, the number of menswear buyers who visited the menswear section of the Pitti Connect platform increased by 75% to 8 000. Considering all the events together (Pitti Bimbo, Filati and Uomo), the total number of buyers reached 15 000, confirmed Raffaello Napoleone, CEO of Pitti.
Previously, the organizers decided that the next edition of Pitti Uomo, celebrating its 100th anniversary, would also be held exclusively online at Pitti Connect, from the 15th to the 17th of June. However, last week, the Italian government announced the possibility of holding face-to-face fairs in regions included in the yellow zone: "maybe we can organize a physical Pitti in the first week of July, if we stay in the yellow zone and don't go to the orange zone. We are talking about this with exhibitors and buyers, and we must make a decision this week. Of course, we would like to avoid overlays with other international fashion events", Napoleone is cited by FashionNewtork.com.
Pitti would like to attract around 400 exhibitors for the July edition, or a third of the usual editions: "About 400 would be very good. Let's not forget that many brands are struggling and have had two very bad seasons. We will make a decision this week".
On the Pitti Connect platform, traffic grew significantly from January to April, increasing both in terms of page views and visits: there were 4 700 buyers from Italy and 3 300 from abroad. In total, Pitti organized 152 events on the platform, 89 for men's fashion, including 34 "Exhibitors Spotlights", focused on major brands; 15 "Buyers Selects", where 10 major retailers explained their main choices; and seven "Style Notes", thematic itineraries through the new collections. Pitti has also created media partnerships with key players such as GQ Italia, Corriere della Sera, MFF and Monocle. In total, more than 200 menswear brands participated in Pitti Immagine Uomo online. Including journalists, about 10 200 professionals registered on the site, for 766 000 page views. It has been reported that 720 media professionals joined Pitti Connect, representing 534 different media.
Source: FashionNetwork.com