Pitti Immagine Uomo scores substantial rise in buyer traffic, as trade fair mulls July physical fair

Pitti Immagine Uomo, the second digital-only version of the famed menswear trade salon, on Monday revealed a substantial rise in buyer traffic online, as the salon revealed that it is considering staging an actual live season in July.

According to figures released by the Florence menswear trade show, the number of professional menswear buyers accessing its Pitti Connect platform menswear section soared by 75% to 8,000. Taking into account Pitti Bimbo, Filate and Uomo the total number of buyers reached 15,000, explained Pitti’s CEO Raffaello Napoleone.

As reported, organizers had planned that the next edition of Pitti Uomo – its 100th anniversary – to take place from June 15 to 17, again via Pitti Connect, and only online.

However, last Thursday the Italian government informed trade show organizers that it was possible to stage trade shows in regions that are color coded yellow or white: the authorities have classified four levels of risk – red, orange, yellow and white. The region around Florence is currently rated yellow.

“So, maybe we can have a physical Pitti in first week of July, if we remain in yellow. And don’t go into orange. We are talking to exhibitors and buyers, and should make a decision this week. Naturally, we will want to avoid overlapping with other international fashion appointments,” Napoleone told FashionNetwork.com.

Most likely, if given the green light, the next Pitti Uomo would then be staged in the beginning of July. Currently, the next edition of Milan’s menswear runway season is scheduled for June 18 to 21; followed by the Paris menswear catwalk season from June 21 to 26.

Napoleone added using a “conservative budget” Pitti would be happy to attract about 400 companies to a July edition, meaning about one third of its usual numbers.

“About 400 would be very good. Don’t forget many brands are in trouble and have had two very bad seasons. We will make a decision this week,” he added.

Though its physical trade shows have been cancelled for over a year, the organization achieved respectable figures on its platform Pitti Connect, where traffic grew significantly, rising both in terms of page views and visits in the period from January 12 to April 5.

Pitti Uomo broke down the online menswear buyers into two groups – 4,700 from Italy, and 3,300 international buyers.

Pitti altogether set up with 152 events on Pitti Connect, 89 for Uomo, including 34 Exhibitors' Spotlights focused on major brands; 15 Buyers' Selects, where 10 leading retailers explain their key picks; and seven Style Notes – themed itineraries across new collections. Pitti also pulled off media partnerships with key players like GQ Italia, Corriere della Sera, MFF and Monocle.

All told, over 200 men’s fashion brands participated in Pitti Immagine Uomo online. Including editors, some 10,200 professionals registered on the site, scoring 766,000 page views. On average, each visitor looked at 5.9 pages in a two-minute visit.

Pitti, historically a vital tool for magazine and online editors in search of major trends, noted that 720 media professionals accessed Pitti connect, representing 534 diverse media outlets.

Pitti has imposed relatively strict access to its digital platform, keeping it limited to professionals, in order to reduce the chance of any copying of creative ideas.

Pitti Immagine Uomo scores substantial rise in buyer traffic, as trade fair mulls July physical fair

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