Cancellation of Bread & Butter will impact European shows, according to head of Pitti Uomo

By

Dominique Muret

Published
Dec 12, 2014

Bread & Butter’s next edition, which was initially planned to be held from January 19-21 in Berlin, was officially canceled earlier this week. The announcement came as a bombshell in the fashion and retail world and especially for the jeans, streetwear and casual men’s fashion sectors. Meanwhile, there has been no shortage of buzz among market players.

"Ending a show is never a good thing. It’s like when a newspaper is shut down,” said Raffaello Napoleone, head of Pitti Uomo, the leading men's fashion trade show in the world. "I believe in Karl-Heinz Müller. He’s a fighter. He will certainly try new things out—he has already announced a project in Korea.”

As an organizer of one of the biggest men's fashion shows in Europe, Napoleone recognizes that “the cancellation of Bread & Butter will certainly have an impact on other shows in terms of buyer participation and attendance, but the impact will only be seen at the end of the season. " 

As for Pitti Uomo, participation in the Florentine show did not appear to suddenly rise following Bread & Butter’s announcement. "This year, we had more requests to participate than ever, including from international companies, but that’s not related to Bread’s decision. We ended registration at least a month ago. What’s more, our positioning in the casual segment isn’t the same as that of the Berlin show. We’re positioned in the upper part of the market."

"For several seasons, we’ve seen an increase in applications to participate in Pitti Uomo and we’re growing in the informal segment in accordance with our positioning strategy. We’re continuing to scout and to do research, carefully selecting exhibitors," said Napoleone. 

And so, Pitti Uomo 87, to be held from January 13-16, will welcome, among others, the German skiwear brand Bogner, the French brand Fusalp as well as North Sails, G-Star, Scotch & Soda, which have participated in the Florentine fair for several seasons already.

"We are facing an uncertain situation, whereby the menswear events landscape is being redrawn. Companies will be redistributed between the German trade fairs and others,” concluded Napoleone.