Pitti Uomo in Florence reported record attendance for its 87th edition.

Exhibitors and trade visitors at this season’s Pitti Uomo menswear fair held in Florence reported a positive mood at the event last week, and congratulated the event organisers for a successful show.

Raffaello Napoleone, CEO of Pitti Immagine, said attendance was much better than expected and emphasised the importance of the fair as a key buying destination for high end of the market especially for the European market.

Just released official figures supported Mr.  Napoleone’s comments.  The premium menswear fair attracted a record number of some 35,000 visitors this season, with nearly 24,000 total buyers’ attendance, representing a 15 percent increase year on year.  Foreign buyer attendance estimated to account for 11 percent or 8,650 visitors.  Italian buyers went up by increased 17 percent. The total number of visitors attending the fair is estimated at 35,000 attendees.

The highest number of foreign visitors came from Japan, followed by Germany, with an increase in visitors from nearly all European countries, including the UK, up 16 percent, Spain, up 17 percent and Portugal, up 45 percent.  Buyer attendance from France also rose by 35 percent.

Daniel Bradley, international sales manager of British exhibitor Aquascutum said one of the reasons for Pitti’s success this season could be due to the cancellation of Bread and Butter in Berlin, while Oliver Sweeney’s commercial director Simon Goodfellow said people were looking for new brands and their new collection across all sectors from formal to casual and sports footwear has been popular among buyers, including UK independents, the US and Asian markets especially those from South Korea and Japan.  Russian buyers gave this fair a miss this season reportedly due to the country's economic problems.

Mr. Napoleone, said the credit for these results goes primarily to the exhibitors who had been dedicated to “producing and presenting ever more creative and high quality collections, they are the true stars of the fair." 

The next edition of Pitti Uomo will be held 16 -19 June.