Fendi to stage next menswear show in Pitti, in brand’s new Capannuccia centre

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Mar 16, 2023

Fendi will stage its next menswear runway show during Pitti Uomo, holding the event inside the brand’s new centre of excellence in Capannuccia.

See catwalk

 The show will take place late afternoon on Thursday, June 15, in the midst of the four-day Pitti Immagine Uomo salon, which kicks off its 104th edition on Tuesday, June 13.
 
The Rome-based house is planning to present its Men's Spring/Summer 2024 collection
in the recently inaugurated Fendi Factory, a new pole of excellence located in the heart of Tuscany's countryside in Capannuccia, some 10 kilometers south of Florence.

“We are proud to open Fendi Factory to our clients and press, making it live outside the day by day for the upcoming men's fashion show in June during Pitti Uomo. It is a special place for our artisans and local community as it represents Fendi heritage and creativity, nurturing the precious handmade abilities of its artisans and preserving Made in Italy" said Fendi chairman and CEO Serge Brunschwig in a joint release from Fendi, Pitti and the Camera della Moda.
 
Set in the rolling hills of Tuscany, Fendi Factory opened in December 2022, designed by Piuarch, the Milan-based architecture studio in league with Fendi’s in-house specialist architecture department. The 14,000 square metre factory also boasts a substantial garden, designed alongside landscape architect Antonio Perazzi.
 
Added Silvia Venturini Fendi, artistic director of accessories and menswear at Fendi: "I am thrilled that the next men's show will take place in such a special location to me, the pulsing heart of Fendi, a place symbolic of creation, where development, innovation, craftsmanship training and production are reunited under the same roof. It will be such a unique occasion to see our products take life exactly where our artisans make them, letting them take center stage on that day."

 
Staged twice-yearly since 1972, Pitti Uomo is a giant trade fair centered on Fortezza da Basso, a medieval fortress close to the main train station of the Renaissance capital. With its blend of fine tailoring, haute gamme accessories, fashion forward designs and select runway shows by prestige marques and acclaimed emerging designers, Pitti Uomo is widely regarded as the best fashion salon in the world. In previous seasons, such stellar designers as Giorgio Armani, Valentino, Givenchy, Raf Simons and Viktor & Rolf have staged gala shows in Pitti.
 
"I am particularly delighted with the presence of Fendi, one of the most prestigious luxury brands on the global scene, at Pitti Uomo in June, precisely in the edition that marks my debut at the helm of the company. This presentation further confirms the international standing of the fair and the quality of its special events,” said Antonio De Matteis, the recently appointed President of Pitti Imagine.
 
“I would also like to underline the importance of the renewed union of intentions with Camera Nazionale della Moda, with which we share the objective of promoting and valorizing the highest Italian fashion in contexts of global relevance: each organization with its own peculiarities and references, both aware that the complementary sequence of Florence-Milan appointments is essential for the entire national men's fashion system. I therefore take this opportunity to express our gratitude to Silvia Venturini Fendi and Carlo Capasa,” added De Matteis.
 
In the past several years, Pitti and the Milan menswear runway season had increasingly worked in tandem. A far cry from the competitive era of “campanilismo,” from the Italian term of focusing exclusively on your own bell tower, when cities were often aggressive rivals. Traditionally, senior fashion buyers, editors and critics travel on the Friday morning on several “fashion trains,” from Florence to Milan, as the industry's focus remains on the Italian peninsula.
 
"Men's Fashion Week in Italy is one, it starts in Florence with Pitti and continues in Milan with our Fashion Week, with two different and complementary modalities. The synergy between our two realities makes the Italian men's fashion proposal the most important in the world. Thanks to the Fendi fashion show that will close the Pitti events on Thursday evening and kick off the Milan fashion shows, the interconnection that binds Florence and Milan is even more evident, even on an international level,” insisted Carlo Capasa, chairman of Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, Italian fashion’s governing body.
 
The Camera noted in the release that Fendi will return to show during the Milan Fashion Week in January 2024 with its Men's Fall/Winter 2024-25 collection.
 
“With Silvia Venturini Fendi we share a special bond, built over the years through various collaborations, always in support of new talents. And above all, we are fans of her vision of men's clothing and lifestyle, of her ability to blend classic elements and radical innovation in a harmonious and modern way. The Fendi event is a precious and emblematic occasion for the city and its productive poles as well,” added Raffaello Napoleone, CEO of Pitti.