Woke in my luxury AirBNB feeling surprisingly refreshed. It’s a medieval studio with a modern bathroom that’s exactly the same height as me, exposed brick walls, standard Florentine window shutters and an ancient door that wouldn’t look out of place on an episode of Game of Thrones. I’ve packed my Lycra and running shoes so it’s a brisk jog on wet stone cobbles past the Duomo and Uffizi Gallery to the river where you can easily measure your pace and distance between bridges. Following a short 5k and a steaming hot shower, I grab an early GF brunch at one of my go-to trattorias on the Piazza del Mercato Centrale before heading back to the Fortezza da Basso.
At the show I bump into Mark & Brian of Harris Tweed notoriety. Brian is a former politician and once told me a tale of a legendary night out in Seoul where he broke into the British Embassy at 3am. Mark couldn’t look more Scottish clutching a bottle of The Macallan, a gift for the founders of MAN 1924 who he introduces me too. I have a meeting booked with my Japanese distributor today before they move to Milan. Toyoda Trading is a family owned business and have represented Stone Island for over 25-years. My friend Kazuki is the son of the owner and it’s the first time I’ve seen him since we first met in LA last year. We catch-up on everything we need to cover off until I see him again with his father in London next week.
There’s time to walk the show today having spent all afternoon in one section yesterday. The January shows are always busier inside the halls whereas at the June shows, everyone is making the most of the Mediterranean climate in the open areas. Pitti has become a microcosm where old industry meets new; sales people on the stands, marketing people on the terraces. The traditional trade show takes place in heritage buildings as well as contemporary pop-up structures that cost a small fortune to build up then down after 4-days. This is the business heart of Pitti that over the last 15-years has started to bleed out into the open areas of the Padiglione Centrale and the iconic entrance to the fort. The beauty to the appeal of Pitti lies in its condensity, everyone and everything exists within these 14th century walls; plus brief moments outside the walls at the beginning and end of each day, where those iconic street style images are captured. Brands now go beyond being visible on a static stand for the duration of the show to making outside noise, either with a seemingly impromptu jazz dance installation or an experiential tattoo and gelato truck. It’s not about whoever shouts the loudest, but more about projecting your brand voice across more than one channel. When I launched the Timothy Everest RTW line at Pitti in 2015, I made sure that the video campaign was turned around within a few days from shooting so it would be published on highsnobiety.com the first day of the show. Highsnobiety has a global monthly reach of 12 million video views; all I needed were the main buyers and press to see it so that they would all visit the stand. Would they have come without that additional marketing boost? Maybe, maybe not; but the feedback on the stand was “everyone’s talking about you”, even if it were just a handful of the right people. I know some old school brands that don’t get the peacocking and put this down to personal vanity/ego. Yes, some of them are ridiculous, but when it’s the right peacock wearing your orange beanie and your social media/sales spike, don’t be so quick to knock it. Everyone who attends Pitti has an agenda, we’re all selling something in our own unique way.
It’s Thursday night and time to head over to the Stazione Leopolda for the much awaited Undercover / TAKAHIROMIYASHITA The Soloist show. Each season Pitti hosts guest designers (next season just announced is Craig Green). I remember the first Undercover mens show I attended at Boboli Gardens in June 2009 where the catwalk ran the perimeter of the circular fountains, before we walked up to the peak of the Palazzo Pitti for an outdoor dinner with panoramic views of the city as the sun came down and a Japanese punk band played fluorescent light bulb instruments while constructing a robot made of teddy bears live on stage. This season it’s a double header that kicks off with Jun Takahashi’s homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey. The collection features graphic typology and NASA type fabrics to a soundtrack that begins with the melancholic tones of Atmosphere by Joy Division. It’s a fantastical sci-fi trip that morphs into a darker, deconstructed tailoring story from The Soloist. Although I appreciate the commercial wearability of the Undercover presentation, I’m drawn to the artistic vision of Takahiro Miyashita set to super ethereal sounds such as Each Time you Fall In Love by Cigarettes After Sex and In The Dark Woods by Akira Kosemura. Together it’s a stunning show and a perfect end to 36-hours in Florence.
Outside I meet up with Graeme from Sane and Kyle from Goodhood as we head to our last supper at Acqua Al 2. It’s a family affair that includes my friend Isaac Larose, who knows how to balance life and work better than almost anyone I know, staying in youth hostels around the world so he can focus more of his budget on cultural experiences. He’s reporting for a Canadian newspaper from his hometown to fund this trip as well as Milan and Paris, documenting his adventures with behind-the-scenes info and polaroid pictures. We catch-up over steaks with a balsamic reduction before I make my excuses not to have a night cap at Gilli seeing as how the restaurant is only a few doors down from my bed for the night. Heading back Friday, there’s time to get a quick brunch at La Ménagére with the Sane crew before we express train it to Bologna for an hour of market research. Looking forward to a weekend of not drinking (much) and food that isn’t bread or pasta based. I’ll start planning my June trip on Monday.
LUMAER 