Italy's foremost Menswear fair Pitti Uomo recorded a successful event

This season’s Pitti Immagine Uomo, the menswear fashion industry's prestigious trade fair held in Italy twice a year, has concluded its 85th edition in Florence five days ago, registering positive results, prompting the organisers to feel positive about the recovery of the industry. 

Raffaello Napoleone, CEO of Pitti Immagine said they registered 30,000 visitors, of which 21,000 were trade buyers, a 4% increase over the fair held in January 2013. “Italian attendance was also up: we could not hope for more. This is extremely gratifying and we are filled with enthusiasm about the June 2014 fair”.  

Mr. Napoleone added: “Among both the vendors and those who staged special events, we found a desire to grow, to  strengthen their presence on existing markets and to conquer the new and emerging ones that sent many quality buyers to the fair. We also saw that there was considerable teamwork among the vendors and retailers, ready to meet the needs and desires – and problems - of the many and different consumers that make up the market”.

From the opening ceremony in Palazzo Vecchio all the way through the fashion events held around the city, Pitti Immagine Uomo 85 (Florence, 7-10 January 2014) was marked by an atmosphere brimming with energy.  

The exhibitors, representing more than eleven hundred brands showing their 2014/15 fall-winter collections at the Fortezza da Basso demonstrated that research and innovation were key for developing designs for the coming season.

Pitti Imagine reported that the non-Italian visitors came from 120 countries around the world.  The number of buyers from the USA – the fundamental market in terms of prestige and as the global benchmark - rose by 10%. 

The number of visitors from Asia came in force.  For example, while Japan buyers were the largest group from their continent, buyers from South Korea – the new and promising frontier in Asia – went up by 5%. Excellent turnouts also recorded from Sweden, Holland, Eastern European markets, Canada, Australia and the Arab Emirates.   Others came from Central Asia, the entire Middle East, Oceania, South and Central America and Africa.

And here are the figures for the top 20 foreign markets that attended Pitti Uomo:Japan (833 buyers), Germany (749), Turkey (562), Great Britain (554), Spain (535), Holland (456), China (431), France (372), South Korea (323), Russia (290), Switzerland (280), United States (256), Belgium (231), Austria (175), Sweden (126), Greece (126), Portugal (116), Hong Kong (89), Denmark (79) and Norway (64).

Photos above supplied by Pitti Uomo.

Yak Wool knitwear available now in the UK at online boutique site.

While many of us are probably dreaming of warmer climes, winter is still with us here in the UK.  But luckily so far we are not experiencing anything like the temperatures recorded lately in North America, nor in the Tibetan plateau where it can drop to below -30°C during the winter.  The latter is where one can find Yak wool, or Khullu.  

A hand-woven Plateau Carreau scarf made in 50% Yak wool, 30% sheep wool and 20% silk scarf in flagstone grey,, measuring 70x190cm.
To view the product on ...in-a-strange-land.com, click here.

According to Norlha, a company founded in 2007 by a mother and daughter team who combined their love of textiles with the desire to establish a sustainable project in Tibet, Yak Wool is as soft as cashmere, warmer than merino and stronger than sheep wool and is also a sustainable material.  Tibetan people have been working with this material for years.  The Yak wool can only be hand-picked from 2 year old animals.  It then takes each expert spinner one month to spin 2KG of wool from 300kg of raw material.

Hand-woven scarf in 70% Yak ‘khullu’, 30% silk scarf.
Click here for more details from on-line boutique. 

Norlha employs nomadic yak herding communities for a portion of the year to weave their products, which includes a range of scarves and knitwear made from 100% yak wool and blended with either cotton or silk, thus providing the herders with a way to diversify their income in a world where choosing to live a traditional lifestyle can leave people below the poverty line.

Now on-line boutique, … in-a-strange-land.com is bringing the Yak knitwear to the UK.

Founder Joseph Burns of ...in-a-strange-land said,  “I’m delighted to be the first retailer to bring these wonderful products to the UK.  The Norlha brand fits perfectly with our ideals at …in a strange land and by selling online we’re very excited to be able to offer these luxury products at truly competitive prices.”

Founded in July 2013, …in a strange land’s mission is to buck the mass-market trend with unique, hand-crafted products that have been responsibly and ethically sourced with minimal impact to the lifestyles of the producers and their environment. …in a strange land is a sole trading company and based in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.

For further information on …in a strange land, visit their website . 

Floral Colours - Inspiration for Design and Fashion at Wiseley Garden

World colour authority Pantone named Radiant Orchid as the key colour of 2014, as has been seen on many catwalk collections for Spring/Summer 2014.

Orchid as seen at The Glasshouse, RHS Wiseley Garden, Surrey, UK.

To get inspiration of this unique colour, one can pay a visit to the RHS Wiseley Garden in Surrey, UK.  In The Glasshouse, I found a number of varieties such as the orchid shown in picture above that gives a wonderful purple tone.
But why stop there.  Here are a few more options of delicate and sweet floral colours found at Wiseley Garden.

STREPTOCARPUS

PELARGONIUM TRANSVAALENSE

NERINE "HITOMI"
All photos by Lucia Carpio for MY FASHION CONNECT.

Happy New Year 2014!

Photo: Nerine flowers at the RHS Wisley Garden, Surrey, UK.
Photo by Lucia Carpio for MY FASHION CONNECT.

Christmas jumpers at Amazon

Season's Greetings

Retailers need to adjust strategies to entice savvy shoppers

One of the Christmas-themed shop-windows at Fortnum and Mason on Piccadilly in London.

This Christmas, while UK retailers are trying to recoup up to 80% of their yearly revenues, they are facing tough economic conditions on the high street according to the Office of National Statistics.  Many hope that tomorrow Friday Dec. 20th being the payday will help shoppers make those last-minute shopping decicions.  While the retail environment is also changing fast, many shoppers are opting to buy online as opposed to going to the high street.

One of the Christmas windows at Fortnum and Mason.
Photos by Lucia Carpio.

Dan Wagner, CEO of Powa Technologies says, "The fragile economy has meant that consumers are much more selective about where they spend their money and retailers have been forced to embark on aggressive discounting far earlier to entice shoppers through the door.
"Consumers are much savvier and are actively seeking for the best deals not only on the high street but also via tablets and mobile phones.  Past loyalties can no longer be relied on and retailers need to revise their business strategies to address rapidly changing consumer buying habits," Wagner added.