Pitti Immagine’s physical fairs including Pitti Uomo, Pitti Bimbo, Pitti Filati, Pitti Fragranze and Super postponed until January 2021.
As the Board of Directors of Pitti Immagine decide to postpone the physical fairs to January 2021, Pitti team now focus on the Pitti Connect digital platform that will be open to all exhibitors and buyers from early July and throughout the whole summer.
Chaired by Claudio Marenzi, the meeting was mainly dedicated to assessing the progress of participation at the physical fairs scheduled for next September (Pitti Uomo, Bimbo, Filati, Fragranze, and Super). Following the discussions with the President, Claudio Marenzi, CEO, Raffaello Napoleone, and the General Manager, Agostino Poletto, the Board Directors have acknowledged the insufficient number of confirmations of attendance as well as the ongoing state of difficulty of the companies, and have decided to postpone the physical fairs until January 2021.
Instead, the focus is now onto the entirely digital version of the above fairs which will be open to all exhibitors.
Claudio Marenzi, President of Pitti Immagine quotes that the majority of the manufacturing companies and retailers – shops, department stores find themselves in an uncertainty regarding travels from one country to another, including quarantine restrictions for the international buyers which must be kept in mind. Also, there is an economic difficulty with the Exhibitors which has added to this decision.
The very recent approval of the Italian decree referred to the 394/81 fund is a good sign at last, even though the effects will mostly be felt from next fall. However the Board continues to maintain the role of the Pitti fairs as an essential tool of commercial promotion for Made in Italy brands, especially the small and medium sized businesses, and the artisan companies that Pitti has always represented.
Raffaello Napoleone, Ceo of Pitti Immagine adds that Pitti will now be putting their resources into the Pitti Connect Digital Fairs for which they will be receiving decisive help from the Italian Trade Agency (Agenzia ICE).
In any case, Pitti also does not exclude the possibility of being able to contribute between July and September, to getting the city started again with autonomous projects or events that are coherent with its policy. In parallel, they aim to immediately start to program the next winter edition to consolidate and support the recovery of production and commercial trade in the fall and at the beginning of 2021.
What is Pitti Connect?
Pitti Connect is a new digital platform that will be active and can be visited from the end of June, first week of July, helping companies maintain the traditional timings of the sales campaign, and it will be extended to the whole of September. This will be an advanced networking and marketplace tool that will allow exhibitors to increase their visibility with tens of thousands of qualified buyers, activating selected and certified commercial contacts, supporting them in the management of orders and holding events and live presentations.
Pitti Connect aims to be much more than a Virtual Showroom, having the same editorial and curatorial layout of the Pitti Fairs. Collections and products will be presented to the fashion community according to themed itineraries with events and special projects, promotions of up-and-coming talents, discussions, collaborations and partnerships with the media and other fashion subjects.
Cover Image: by Andrea Menin for Pitti People
Image Credits: Pitti Immagine, Italy