Last week, nestled snugly between London and Milan menswear fashion weeks, the Pitti Uomo trade show outdid itself once again.
It's a funny beast, being an integral stop on the men's fashion week circuit without actually being a "fashion week," as such. There are huge men's trade shows in America, and other parts of the world, but none are an essential stop for the fashion editors of major magazines and websites, or even for influencers.
Pitti Uomo is, unlike any other trade show, Pitti has a pervasive appeal throughout the menswear industry, and its ofttimes seemingly exhaustive array of initiatives never ceases to breathe new and exciting life into an event that has, at its heart, that wholly unsexy but oh-so-essential agenda, "trade." But Pitti is sexy.
First off, it's Italian; a dizzying multitude of the best-dressed Italian men descend on an ancient Florentine fort, advancing on the once-defensive structure in battle-ready waves as the traffic lights at "zebra crossing" change. Secondly, it's in Florence, a strong contender for title of "Most Romantic City in the World." It isn't a big city, so it's intimate. The architecture is breathtaking, the gelato delicious; Aperol Spritzes flow like water from faucets; the Arno river winds its lazy way under historic bridges and on toward the verdant Tuscan hills that surround it. Like I said: sexy.