Outlook Pitti Uomo #79

Details about the 79th edition of Pitti Immagine Uomo that will take place in its usual spot at Fortezza da Basso in Florence, Italy on January 11 - 14 2011 have been made known to the public. As Raffaello Napoleone, Pitti Immagine’s CEO, announced beginning of this week, the trade fair organiser will launch two online trade fairs in January to complement Pitti Uomo and Pitti Bimbo.

As this year's special guest designer for Pitti W, the woman's pre-collection exhibition that is held parallel to Pitti Uomo, British designer Gareth Pugh has been selected. As a special events director leaked, he will be showcasing his collection in a rather unusual location - one that had never before hosted a fashion show.

"Gareth Pugh was already one of the leaders of the generation of young British fashion designers who helped to make that evening so exciting.  We have followed his work in London and Paris, seen his style evolve – from the Gothic atmospheres of the early days to today’s decidedly flamboyant effects – as well as the way he presents his collections: the video screened at the last Paris fashion week brought new energy to the discussion on the use of multimedia technologies in fashion. So we had all the right reasons for inviting Gareth Pugh to Florence and Pitti, where there is plenty of space for fashion experiments which can dialogue with the city’s unique historical and artistic venues. We are very happy that Gareth Pugh responded to our invitation with such enthusiasm." Pitti Immagine Press Release

Also, a special role at the 79th edition of Pitti Uomo will be held by the Trussardi Group.  To herald its centennial next year, Trussardi will host a multi-part event, which will include fashion, art, design and food showcases.

Pitti Uomo has a very special position in its function as Europe's biggest trade fair for male fashion. As the fair runs just before Milan fashion week, Pitti Uomo holds a reputation as a pioneer trade platforms as it allows the companies at to showcase their products very early in the annual fashion cycle. Strategically speaking, the brands can capitalize on capturing the attention of the buyers and the share of the buyers’ budgets before everybody else does. Also, Pitti Uomo has the reputation of being extremely contemporary and men's fashion brands frequently showcase new trends here first.

The summer edition of Pitti Uomo - #78 had attracted a total of 32 000 visitors out of which 19,200 were buyers. The special guest for Pitti W was Haider Ackermann, who bedazzled with his beautiful atmospheric show and his first tentative steps into men's wear. Special guest brand in summer was Jil Sander, who had menswear designer Raf Simons bring lots of colour to the topiary gardens of Villa Gamberaia.

Let's see what Pitti Uomo #79 has in store for us.

 xoxo
Glamazone

Source: style.com, WWD.com, pittiimmagine.com

The Future is...

...contrast.

This season, British designer Gareth Pugh - famous for his preference of goth-influenced looks - made a statement by completely relinquishing to have a catwalk show for his spring/summer '11 collection. He replaced his live show with a 11-minute film that was shown yesterday, 29th September 2010 in Paris. Let me rephrase that - "film" does not quite do it justice. We are talking about an artistic masterpiece displaying his collection in a virtual framework that would put a considerable number of sci-fi films and music videos into place.

Director Ruth Hobgen, who, as part of Nick Knight's SHOWstudio - also in charge of imagery of Lady Gaga's Monster Ball World Tour - created this stimulating short film, featuring supermodel Kristen McMenamy and male dancer Jonathan Baker.

The film conveys the emotion and the vision of Gareth Pugh, which is habitually sinister and slightly outlandish. The captivating piece of virtual artistry, which was created in collaboration with ingenious SHOWstudio was projected on a gargantuan screen in the Parc de Bercy sports stadium in Paris instead of a classic runway show.
By abandoning the catwalk for a virtual spectacle instead of merely complementing his show by film material, Gareth Pugh is taking the virtual marketing efforts of fellow designers and fashion brands one step further. Clearly taking sides of advocates for immediacy and overall accessability of fashion, the video was simultaneously accessible on the SHOWstudio website and youtube for thousands of aficionados worldwide.

The elaborate black and white video displayed an alienating yet beautiful composition of Japanese-inspired sharply tailored clothing, some androgynous futuristic shapes as well as some rather unexpected soft and delicate flowing garments. Also, the shades of this season were dominated by silver, grey and white, some monochrome graphic prints but still featured some of the designer's signature dark goth/fetish-inspired looks. 

Following - of what feels to be - the footprints of Alexander McQueen, who smoothed out the way with his cross over show "Plato's Atlantis" on year ago in his last show for spring/summer '10, Gareth Pugh took over the sceptre of virtual fashion showmanship. Certainly as resource consuming as any fashion show, the designer took full control of the representations of his designs.

It feels like this season, we are clearly witnessing a shift towards both ends of the spectrum.
Fashion accessibility, immediacy and ubiquity versus intimacy, luxury and elitism.

xoxo
Glamazone

Sources: showstudio.com
Picture Sources: style.com