Pitti Uomo 110. Florence. I'm Going.

Every time I pack for Pitti I realise this isn’t just a trip. It’s more like a fixed point in the year that everything else builds around. Florence in June, Fortezza da Basso, four days that always leave something behind — ideas, conversations, and a kind of tiredness that feels like time well spent.

This year I’m going again. June 16–19.

For those who haven’t heard of it — Pitti Immagine Uomo is the most important international menswear exhibition in the world. It takes place twice a year in Florence, at the Fortezza da Basso. This year is the 110th summer edition, with over 720 brands from more than 30 countries.

But honestly Pitti stopped being just a trade fair a long time ago. Designers, editors, stylists, buyers and people for whom how you dress is a language rather than a formality all come here. The streets of Florence during Pitti are a spectacle of their own. You walk from one end of the Fortezza to the other and along the way you see so much interesting things that you lose track of time. It’s one of those things that’s hard to put into words — you just have to see it once.

Every year Pitti has a theme — visual and conceptual. This year it’s called THE POOL.
The image is this: a young man at a pool’s edge touches the surface of the water with his hand and sees his own reflection. The moment is suspended — a pause, a waiting, time held still for a second. A modern Narcissus — but not a naive one, a conscious one. Someone who understands the power of his own reflection and chooses what to do with it.

This theme speaks to me. It’s about awareness — not about liking what you see in the mirror, but about understanding what you’re communicating and doing it deliberately. That’s exactly what I think about in my work every day. The theme is being developed by the editor and fashion director of SSAW Magazine, and among the guest designers are Simone Rocha with her first independent menswear show and Japanese designer Kei Ninomiya.

I don’t go to Pitti to impress anyone or to stand out deliberately. I’ve never set that as a goal.

Everything I wear there comes from my regular wardrobe. Things I’m comfortable in, things that reflect who I am right now. No specially assembled outfit for the occasion — just the way I dress. Florence in June is warm and bright, lightness is what works — linen, the right fit, shoes you don’t mind wearing all day. Nothing unnecessary.

For me Pitti isn’t a stage. It’s a place to see a lot of interesting things, to talk to people you respect, and to walk around a city that is itself the best backdrop for any outfit.

This is probably what I look forward to most.

Pitti brings together people you see once or twice a year — and here the conversations are different. More honest, less formal. Friends you haven’t seen since last time, new connections that carry on for months afterwards. This is no less important a part of the trip than everything else — maybe more important.

I’ll be honest — by the end of the fourth day your feet ache and your head is full. You just want to sit somewhere with a glass of wine and not move.

But it’s the kind of tiredness that feels right. From movement, from impressions, from conversations that shift something inside. Changing place and context is one of the best ways to refresh how you see what you do. I know this — and it’s exactly why I go every time.

Pitti for me as a men’s stylist isn’t entertainment — it’s a necessity. Events like this shape your vision, refresh your references and remind you why all of this matters. Seeing a lot of beautiful and considered things in one place changes how you look at style afterwards.

At Elety we help men build a personal style that speaks for them — precisely and without unnecessary noise. If that’s something you’re thinking about — we’re on our website.