Ann Demeulemeester
is the Pitti Immagine
Uomo 102
Guest of Honor
Event
Edition 102
15.06.2022
Place of the event
Stazione Leopolda
Date of the event
15.06.2022 18:00
Florence celebrates the maison’s iconic style with a special project curated by Ann Demeulemeester.
Ann Demeulemeester is the Pitti Immagine Uomo no. 102 Guest of Honor (Florence, Fortezza da Basso, 14-17 June 2022).  In fact, following last January’s postponement, the Belgian designer herself will be curating the special project dedicated to her and the brand that bears her name at the Stazione Leopolda. 
Florence and Pitti Immagine are finally ready to celebrate Ann Demeulemeester’s extraordinary work, a story that began forty years ago in Antwerp which, today, is strengthened by the new approach undertaken following the acquisition of the brand by Claudio Antonioli: an approach that, between reclamation and autonomy, highlights the distinctive and persistent traits of Ann Demeulemeester’s fashion, above all the sensitivity towards its own time which is developed without any anxieties about validation and an ability to renew itself maintaining the unmistakable initial intuitions and shapes.  It is not a coincidence that the curatorial work carried out on the Archive on this occasion moves beyond the recovery of memories that are useful for citing in new collections and becomes a regular act of fashion: an artistic-esthetic intervention born out of a project design urgency, here and now. A gift for the whole Pitti community.

— Lapo Cianchi, director of communication and events at Pitti Immagine

Brand Profile
For Ann Demeulemeester, fashion is a form of communication. Her complex language of contrasts covers a whole gamut of emotions. The tension is highly poetic - her clothes reveal many layers of ‘’soul’’. They are simple, the way a knife is simple. Serious but never severe, meticulous but experimental, strong but always sensual. Known for her elegant tailoring and dark yet glamorous aesthetic, she created a serene and darkly romantic world with an intriguing mix of edgy rebellion and sophistication.

Ann Demeulemeester graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp in 1981 and from 1982 onwards she participated to a series of contests and fashion events with her first collections. 
She launched her eponymous label and her first commercial collection in 1987 with her longstanding creative partner Patrick Robyn. Her first fashion show in Paris in 1992 has put her immediately on the international fashion map.
Her intelligent approach to fashion rises above trends and offers a continually evolving system of dressing with integrity and fierce independence.
Ann Demeulemeester left her label in 2013 and ever since has experimented with a variety of new expressive formats.
In 2020, the Ann Demeulemeester label was purchased by Claudio Antonioli, Milan entrepreneur and talent scouter, who took the reins of the brand in hand with great respect for its past and a clear vision of the future. His mission is to reposition Ann Demeulemeester as a luxury fashion brand, while remaining faithful to its image.
Making of