Pitti Uomo 102 ended with extraordinarily encouraging final turnout of buyers even better than we had hoped. Last June we had just reopened, with 300 courageous exhibitors ... while at this edition in the Fortezza almost 700 collections were presented and we exceeded 10,600 buyers, of which 4,200 from about seventy foreign countries, approximately 40% of the total. Overall, we had 16,000 visitors in total.
Of course, these are percentage variations that must take into account the starting point but, compared to the summer edition of 2021, Italian buyers have increased by 135%, foreign ones by 360%. And it's not just a question of numbers: the quality was very high, we had the best buyers, motivated and willing to bring customers back to their shops and department stores.
, CEO of Pitti Immagine
I can't name them all but it is of great importance, for example, that there were almost 200 American buyers, that Japanese (73) and Korean (80) buyers have returned despite the cautions and restrictions that are still in place in their countries. We even had some people from China Hong Kong. And then those from Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Denmark), the Balkans and Eastern Europe (Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary), the Gulf (UAE, Qatar). People even came from Canada and Mexico, even from Australia.
The Fortezza and the city are finally back to being the melting pot of voices, faces, colors, and human relationships that we missed for two years – also thanks to popular and successful events featuring, among others, Ann Demeulemeester, Grace Wales Bonner, Sapio, Soulland, the international participations of Ukrainian Fashion Now!, Scandinavian Manifesto, and the special S|Style sustainable style project. First of all, I am very pleased for our exhibitors who continued to believe in the show, investing in research and style, and now see their commitment rewarded with the opportunity to re-establish a wide rande of quality relationships with the Italian and international markets. And I'm happy for us at Pitti, for the whole team. For the city. We really needed this energy.
An edition of the fair and events created with care and quality thanks to the crucial support of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Agenzia ICE, as well as our main partner UniCredit, as part of a targeted strategy to promote the interests of Italian industry and commerce at the highest international level. And together with them, we also want to thank the Florence Chamber of Commerce and the CR Firenze Foundation, who have supported us in specific projects in the Fortezza da Basso and the city.
, CEO of Pitti Immagine
