FLORENCE — Menswear is shifting again and Pitti Uomo proved the ideal stage to get a sense of the transition.
Although a return to heritage fabrics and a dressed-up attitude continued to reverberate throughout the fall collections presented at the four-day trade show, which ended Friday, “quiet luxury” and “grandpa style” — as TikTok netizens have billed the return to classicism over the past year — gave way to fresh interpretations, ranging from utilitarian chic ensembles to tailored outdoorsy gear and a softer take on suiting that trickled down to the business suit.
“The mood of this season, like the weather, reflected an overall sense of transition that is happening in menswear,” said Jian DeLeon, men’s fashion director at Nordstrom, who spotted a “polished casual approach to dressing, taking elements of formal and making them less stuffy, while elevating garments like knitwear and military-inspired outerwear in a more elegant context.”
Packed with side events, including shows from Todd Snyder, Magliano, S.S. Daley and the debut runway of Achilles Ion Gabriel, the fair allowed “time, in this current world context, to discover the latest trends and new creativity emerging from all over the world,” according to Cleo Gicquel, menswear buyer at Printemps.
“There was a sense of excitement and confidence from brands throughout the exhibition to showcase their latest collections while also being transparent about products that have resonated with their core customers,” offered Reginald Christian, senior fashion manager, men’s at Saks.
The sense of newness brought about “great energy, enthusiasm and an upbeat mood throughout the fair,” as Bruce Pask, senior editorial director at Neiman Marcus, put it. He praised Brunello Cucinelli for hitting a lot of the fall season’s trends, including the elongated statement-making overcoat tossed over tailoring that is getting softer or worn in casual ways.
The business suit came with functionality at the heart, in the words of Sophie Jordan, the newly minted menswear buying director at Mytheresa, and heritage fabrics such as plaids, herringbone, Prince of Wales and corduroy were applied to suiting as much as to sportswear and outerwear.
To be sure, life in the outdoors is still dominating menswear collections with a “luxe utility expressed through elevated takes on après-ski, gentlemanly renditions of technical items and polished versions of cargo and workwear,” said Justin Berkowitz, fashion director, men’s at Bloomingdale’s. It was particularly evident in the Todd Snyder show held on the fair’s opening night Tuesday, one that won buyers over.
“It has been refreshing to see the evolution of quiet luxury, whereby brands are adding more colors, textures and technical innovations to traditionally classic styles,” said Joseph Tang, fashion director at Holt Renfrew.
Here, some of the top brands from the show.
Herno
Designer: In-house design team
Inspiration: Herno’s evolution toward offering a total look is nearing completion. Company president and chief executive officer Claudio Marenzi said that as men’s fashion embraces the high-quality, subdued luxury trend, the brand’s DNA has found its sweet spot, expanding categories beyond its original outerwear proposition. Key retailers are starting to sense Herno’s potential, also for its competitive, albeit luxury, pricing and at direct retail, customers are giving the new course a thumbs up. In the fall collection a refined casual look, imbued with sportswear elements and sartorial details — a combination that was core at the trade show throughout the week — stood out for their simplicity and contemporary flair.
Key styles: Outerwear remains a key component of Herno’s proposition, with puffers and down jackets crafted from tailoring fabrics and corduroy, often tossed over houndstooth and herringbone blazers as city businessmen would wear. Topcoats came slightly oversize and A-shaped with a cocooning feel. Office attire was reinterpreted with utilitarian details, including a pinstriped, easy care, performance option with cargo pocketed pants. Chunky cable-knit sweaters became the season’s preferred underpinnings.
Price range: N/A
Paul & Shark
Designer: In-house design team
Inspiration: Passion for the great outdoors continues to define utilitarian menswear and the brand, originally leaning on its passion for the sea, is translating its performance-chic ethos toward different territories. Combining hiking references with an urban bent, the fall collection embedded handsome outerwear and technical fabrics worked into pants and mid-layers, paired with knits. The Re-code line, part of the fall collection, hinged on archival pieces and the signature shark logo that has been softened as part of Paul & Shark’s rebranding strategy. It was embedded in knits embossed with a geometrical pattern nodding to a fin or quilted on outerwear.
Key styles: Among the outerwear standouts, the signature Typhoon Pertex windbreaker was matched with cuffed carrot pants with frontal oversize pockets. Vest and utilitarian shells provided a layered look nodding to gorpcore. Almost all looks came with pleated pants in woolen or tech fabrics and sartorial constructions that anchored the lineup in cool citywear.
Price range: N/A
KNT
Designer: Walter and Mariano De Matteis
Inspiration: In the span of a few seasons Walter and Mariano De Matteis have learned how to differentiate their KNT brand from its older brother Kiton. Interpreting the sensibility of today’s youth and mining a contemporary preppy-cool aesthetic, they delivered a casual collection of desirable pieces, apt for layering and daily styling, tossing in only a few of their deconstructed, easy care suits. The twin brothers said the brand registered a 30 percent increase in revenues year-over-year in 2023, with key accounts located in the U.S., such as Bergdorf Goodman, Saks and Neiman Marcus.
Key styles: A sartorial reinterpretation of outerwear came in the shape of woolen or corduroy quilted overshirts, vests and puffers, often paired with same-fabric relaxed pants; cable knit sweaters and sweater sets were the season’s preferred underpinnings, paired with workwear pants, roomy chinos and cargos. Against a palette of winter whites, touches of red and teal green stood out, but the duo’s love of color was seen in the six-piece capsule collection with graphic artist Omar Hassan, whose “Time Lines” paintings were splashed on a blouson, T-shirt, sweatshirts, suit, vest and denim.
Price range: The collection retails at between 300 euros for a T-shirt and 5,000 euros for overcoat. Suits are priced over 4,500 euros.
L.B.M. 1911
Designer: Giovanni Bianchi, chief executive officer and head of design at Lubiam
Inspiration: Fueled by an overall stronger spotlight of classics, L.B.M. 1911 has been expanding its offering beyond suiting, a category that was fairly represented — in double-breasted suits with pleated pants and magnified traditional patterns such as pinstripes — but flanked by outdoorsy and more casual pieces designed and crafted according to sartorial principles. The predominantly subdued palette of whites and earthy tones, including beige and burgundy, occasionally left room for pastels, including sage green and dusty blue. In the Luigi Bianchi line, also owned by parent company Lubiam, a 1930s inspiration translated into a vintage-y, pattern-rich collection with a British tailoring undercurrent.
Key styles: In addition to roomier suiting, paired with tonal-colored, off-shouldered statement coats, some inspired by knitwear and bearing houndstooth patterns, the brand leaned on luxurious knits and jerseys, a few sportswear-nodding outerwear pieces including a puffer with pinstriped flannel patch pockets, as well as unlined corduroy blazers. In the Luigi Bianchi range, raglan-sleeved topcoats in conservative sartorial patterns such as herringbone and Prince of Wales were among the standouts.
Price range: The collection retails from 490 euros.
Piacenza 1733
Designer: In-house design team
Inspiration: As menswear leans on the creams, beiges and ivory whites telegraphing soft-spoken luxury, Piacenza 1733 focused on its now signature color combinations to zhuzh up the cocooning and leisurely feel of the knitwear-heavy fall offering. The brand has managed to distill a precise identity, reinventing high-end fibers, from alpaca and cashmere to blends with silk and plenty of tactile finishing and weaving techniques, into captivatingly artsy and joyful pieces. It’s paying off, said brand manager Vasiliy Piacenza, pointing to a 26 to 27 percent growth in ready-to-wear sales last year.
Key styles: A recurring and subtly embedded jacquard ikat motif ran throughout the lineup, placed horizontally or vertically and sometimes plied into a plaid pattern, while gauze-like cashmere and cashmere-silk crewnecks in forest green and orange were cozy and cocooning, yet surprisingly lightweight. A range of double cashmere or wool overshirts made for the most subdued part of the lineup, which was otherwise rich in statement, off-shouldered overcoats with a vintage textural bent. The use of moulinè yarns combining tonal colors spiced up easy-to-approach knits.
Price range: The collection retails between 300 euros and 3,000 euros.
