FLORENCE, ITALY — The forward march for creative expression continues apace in Florence, where Pitti Uomo 109 engages with an increasingly diverse community and offers a broad range of products across the menswear and lifestyle realms.
The fair, established as a leading force in the apparel category and running from 13 – 16 January 2026, returns for a winter season with a range of new features that reflect the quiet evolution of the fashion industry and its styles (while adding an emphasis on expansion to new markets, growth, and ever-changing desires of consumers).
Designers’ proposals were featured in abundance this season, placed in sections across the fair designed to offer visitors a refreshing and engaging experience in equal measure. This season offers a steep increase in the presence of international brands (around 47%), reinforcing the fair’s appeal to a high-standard choice for industry players.
Pitti Uomo 109
Between the key highlights, there’s a fairly traditional quota of carryover projects that continue building momentum. From Fantastic Classic (the section that brings together the most representative companies in formal menswear, stretching between the informal, outdoor and classic numbers), the cutting-edge hub of Futuro Maschile (which showcases timelessness with a distinctly international presence), Dynamic Attitude (which tech-core at its heart), I GO OUT (exploring the stylistic potential of outdoors) to the Scandinavian Manifesto that acts as a window to spotlight the Nordic Region, there’s plenty for the taking.
“Pitti is a platform that’s ever growing in scale and function,” opined Sara Funaro, Mayor of Florence, at the press conference. “Oftentimes, we’re accustomed to evaluating a benchmark packed with negative data, but we need to watch the positive side of the coin as well,” she explains. Given the turbulent times, the wish to develop and expand is in the air this edition.
“The growth plans of strategic expansion of the fair continue apace this edition, with it being the most important menswear across its category, something that’s always been and that is growing quite exponentially. The presence also falls under the overseas markets, likewise from Italian brands, which steep not only in local culture but in the wider identity of the nation. The effort we must stick to—nationally and internationally—is to work as a community to build stronger relations, making a way to make our local stories far more attractive. We must continue this work, and we need to simplify how we approach these relationships.”
Pitti Uomo 109
Matteo Zoppas, President of ICE (The Italian trade agency for international cooperation and foreign affairs), concurs with Funaro, explaining how the criticality of these periods influences the present but should not affect the way we operate to inform the future.
“There’s criticalities and complexities present across these times, but we want to help to support Made in Italy and sales between buying and selling operations,” he told reporters at the conference. “We brought over 350 buyers, which is something that makes us have an ability to attract international realms, but there’s always more to be done. We’re in the midst of a global downturn and a path in which fashion is slowing down, so support is the only way forward.”
Such spirit weaves into Adolfo Urso’s line of thought: the Italian Minister of Business is positive about the future, and points to the craving to strengthen creativity through the adoption of sustainable practices and legal cooperation. “Pitti opens the year of Made in Italy and acts as a window for menswear, and we as a country must act like the Renaissance epoch where everything kept being created anew,” he opined.
Pitti Uomo 109
“We have endured the most turbulent times and conflicts worldwide, but today we can say that this a time of rebirth – especially with Pitti: for traditional markets and international ones, too. For Made in Italy, not only do we need to point to the craving for beauty as a product – but we need to point to sustainability and take legal action where applicable too, creating products with a very strong edge in order for them to have a long-term span.”
Among the plans for expansion, and also worthy of note is Japan, a key strength in building the dialogue with local enterprises and global manufacturing districts. Soshiotsuki and Shinyakozuka, both guest designers at this edition, will headline Japan’s signature styles blending form and function.
by Chidozie Obasi