Fashion has become the most affordable of art forms. We could all wear a piece of Christian Lacroix while he designed for Spanish brand Desigual and even typically untouchable Christian Dior features a few knick-knacks under $200 in their current collection, courtesy of artistic director Maria Grazia Chiuri — whose streetwise styles have reinvigorated the Maison.
Read MoreThe Pitti Uomo 92 Diaries: “Boom, Pitti Blooms” Comes to an End
As the fashion tribe is getting ready to leave Florence for Milan — Pitti Uomo for Milano Moda Uomo — amidst a 24-hour transportation strike throughout Italy, I reflect back on the great things I’ve seen in the last 36 hours. While this year’s Pitti Uomo has been truly fantastic and full of personal highlights, the last day also managed to be pretty mind blowing.
Read MoreThe Pitti Uomo 92 Diaries: Federico Curradi’s Angelic Rockstar Cool Look
In the biography for Florentine-born designer Federico Curradi, his extensive experience at the helm of Ermanno Scervino, as head of menswear for Roberto Cavalli. as creative director for menswear at Iceberg and various consultancy jobs including one at Dunhill are collectively described as his “unique baggage of experiences”. I love to think of life as a journey and nowhere in Florence this year — where I find myself for the Pitti UomoSpring/Summer 2018 collections — was that concept more apparent than in Curradi’s line.
Read MoreThe Pitti Uomo 92 Diaries: Why #iamHUGO This Year in Florence
It’s interesting how different people can view a space in different ways. I mean, this time last year at Pitti Uomo we were watching the Gosha Rubchinskiy show at the Manifattura Tabacchi — a Fascist era tobacco factory near the racetrack in Florence. Within that setting, the Russian designer presented a daytime vision of boys framed by the rundown buildings of the abandoned manufacturing plant. The look was very Pasolini, both in the style of the clothes and the spare feel of the surroundings.
Fast forward a year, almost to the date, and I found myself once again within the same tobacco factory grounds, this time at night, and for the HUGO show. But even if the address was the same, the venue had been transformed into a hauntingly theatrical setting, a place alit with fire circles burning, lanterns hanging from a tall tree and smoke spewing out of broken windows, at uneven intervals. I expected Tina Turner in her ‘Mad Max’ costume to peek out of one of the red lit windows at any time.
Read MoreThe Pitti Uomo 92 Diaries: Christian Louboutin Brings Sport and Glamour to Florence
“Please excuse me if I will speak in English but my Italian is very tiny.” So shoe designer extraordinaire Christian Louboutin kicked off the Bike Polo tournament named after him in Florence. From early morning on Tuesday, June 13th, eight teams of three players from around the world battled for the win in the Piazza S. Maria Novella, in front of an iconic Florentine church.
Read MoreThe Pitti Uomo 92 Diaries: Olivier Saillard Brings Fashion Magic to Florence
“Presented flat, on a hanger or on an artificial bust made of wood or wicker, the garment is silenced,” but also an orphan, according to the Director of the Paris fashion museum Palais Galliera, Olivier Saillard.
Read MoreThe Pitti Uomo 93 Diaries: Finnish Design, the International Woolmark Prize and Be Still My Gucci Beating Heart
On the first official day of the 93rd edition of Pitti Uomo, and my second day on the ground in Florence, I found quite a lot of inspiration coming from Guest Nation Finland, the International Woolmark prize with its multicultural designers and the wonderful universe that has been created by Alessandro Michele, the creative director of Gucci. I mean, any man confident enough to wear a golden tiara is A-alright in my book. Even I am weary of those things and find it difficult to incorporate them into my daily wardrobe, so I can’t even begin to imagine how he managed. The conversation alone with himself in the mirror, that I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall for! Alessandro Michele is my fashion idol.
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