Pitti Uomo 106: What to Expect From the Main Menswear Fair

For the 106th edition, Pitti Uomo welcomes Paul Smith and Marine Serre as guest designers and features more lifestyle proposals. 

It’s a good tradition: starting menswear season in Florence with the Menswear trade show Pitti Uomo. More chill than a busy Milano Fashion Week, but always with great programming, it’s one of the favourite stops of the fashion crowd, where you always have time to talk and engage with designers and their projects (and savour a bit of gelato and the beauty of Florence in between presentations!).

During this summer edition, scheduled from June 11 to 14 under the distinctive and energising Pitti Lemon theme, there will be several international designers who will be taking the spotlight. French fashion darling Marine Serre will be showing for the first time her menswear and womenswear collections outside of her homeland, and outside of Paris, where she has become one of the emerging names to follow. “I am really excited to present my next show in Florence on the 12th of June. It's an honour for me and my team to be the Guest Designer of Pitti Uomo this season. We’re looking forward to bringing the essence of Marine Serre to Florence, mixing craftsmanship our way, and shaking the lines of what’s expected to be, bringing imagination at the service of transformation,” the French designer mused in her official statement. 

Another big name on the schedule - British designer Paul Smith who will be making a comeback to Pitti on the first day of the fair, to present his mainline collection for Spring/Summer 2025, after thirty-one years (the fashion veteran was the first designer ever to show at Pitti’s historic Stazione Leopolda back in 1993). Since the company’s beginnings in 1970, Paul Smith has been synonymous with elegant tailoring and savoir vivre with his colourful striped universe. “I was one of the first guest designers to be invited to show at Pitti back in 1993 and I think that it’s a wonderful moment that highlights some of the best menswear around in a very real way. I am looking forward to presenting my collection in a more personal setting, the return to Florence feels like just the right thing to do,” Paul Smith shared his excitement with the press.

Italian fashion insider Carolina Castiglioni will debut her first men’s collection under her label Plan C, inspired by the brand’s archives and carryover pieces. While French designer Pierre Louis Maschia, who is known for his delicate silkwear, eye-catching collage techniques and intricate motifs, will stage a co-ed catwalk show for the very first time in his career. Other highlights include a brand new China Wave pavilion that will bring to Florence the best of Chinese Menswear, Gas and Les Deux, who will be making their comeback to the fair, and a Guess Jeans activation, celebrating the brand’s 40th anniversary.

Finally, as the 111 Tour de France will be departing from Florence, Pitti Imagine decided to create a new lifestyle format dedicated to cyclists and bicycles: Becycle will be taking over Stazione Leopolda during Pitti Uomo and later during the month from June 26 to 28.

Courtesy: Pitti Uomo

Text: Lidia Ageeva