Great satisfaction for the 71st edition of Pitti Immagine Uomo, driven by the theme of elegance and the dynamism of new markets

When Pitti Immagine Uomo (Florence, 10-13 January 2007) closed its doors, over 26,316 buyers had visited the fair and left an air of profound satisfaction and optimism among the 860-plus exhibitors at the Fortezza

“It was a very strong Pitti Uomo -  says Raffaello Napoleone, CEO of Pitti Immagine – “with enthusiastic comments from all the operators who were at the Fortezza, they were enthusiastic about business contacts and international communications and marketing. Even media coverage – press and TV – from all over the world was greater than average.” The exhibitors met all of the most important clients: a clear sign of the energy with which the more innovative portion of the fashion system is viewing the recovery. The new section Touch! was a big success with the buyers as it enriched the segmentation and offerings. “This edition confirms the success of our production decisions,” continues Raffaello Napoleone, “with a strong return to sophisticated and knowledgeable elegance presented in strong variations: the best collections featured at the Fortezza, the special projects such as Rooms, the exhibition-showcase dedicated to Savile Row and tailoring, the Kris van Assche event, and Maurizio Cattelan’s vision in Permanent Food”.

Looking at the attendance data, we see continued growth among foreign buyers, with a final figure of 9,690 (there were 9,613 at the January 2006 winter edition) – and the great dynamism on the emerging markets. “More and more Pitti Uomo is the docking point for new markets,” says Agostino Poletto, Director of Marketing and Development of Pitti Immagine, “the operators come to Florence to make their first contacts with excellence in Italian and international men’s fashions, and to satisfy the strong demand for quality and look that they find only here”. In this light we have to emphasize the significant increases in attendance on the part of Russia (+ 30%) and Eastern Europe (Poland, + 15%; Czech Republic, + 29.2%; Hungary, + 11%; and the Baltic states), China, (+ 11%); Hong Kong, (+ 17.6%) and even India (+ 58.3%) with its strong contingent of buyers. Poletto continues, “We mustn’t forget Japan (+ 4.7%); among the more consolidated foreign markets it is not only the most demanding and prepared, but for us it has become the prime market with over one thousand buyers.” Once again we witnessed physiological oscillations among the more consolidated markets such as Germany, United States, Great Britain, France, Spain, Holland and Turkey.

Here are rankings of the first sixteen top countries with respect to their January 2006 figures: Japan (1.109 vs. 1.059), Germany (1058 vs. 1.120), Spain (810 vs. 850), Great Britain (742 vs. 732), Holland (651 vs. 618), Greece (517 vs. 536), Turkey (495 vs. 440), Korea (450 vs. 456), France (403 vs. 432), China (346 vs. 312), Switzerland (322 vs. 350), Belgium (291 vs. 320), United States (286 vs. 299), Russia (269 vs. 207), Austria (229 vs. 241) and Portugal (185 vs. 218).

On the domestic side, all of the most important Italian buyers came to the fair, even if the total of 16,626, 7% less with respect to January 2006 reflects the hard (and inevitable) phase of restructuring that is going on in independent retailing: the number of stores in Italy dropped by roughly 10% between 2005 and 2006.

“I would add two comments about this factor,” continues Raffaello Napoleone, “the exhibition’s offer is continuing to target the high end and this creates a natural selection and we must also consider the increasingly important role that sales are playing in the retail cycles. This winter with the exceptionally mild weather has been having a negative impact on sales, and we know that many of the smaller stores have had to concentrate on end-of-season and post-Christmas discounts”.