Pitti Uomo to host Woolmark Prize finals and Malibu 1992 event

By

Dominique Muret

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Oct 30, 2017

The programme for menswear show Pitti Uomo in Florence on 9th-12th January, has been finalised. On the evening of the opening day, Tuesday 9th, it will host the Woolmark Prize 2017-18 final for menswear and womenswear. It will be the second time that the famous competition for emerging designers is being held in Florence, where the menswear final was staged in January 2016.

The final will be held at the Stazione Leopolda venue, where the winners for the men's and women's ready-to-wear categories will be announced. Each prize is worth A$200,000 (approximately €132,000). For the occasion, Woolmark will also award its brand-new innovation prize, to the designer among the 12 international finalists who will show the most innovative and eco-sustainable approach. This prize is worth A$100,000 (approximately €65,000).
 
The six international finalists for menswear are: Six Lee for Asia, Blair Archibald for Australia and New Zealand, Matthew Miller for the British Isles, L’Homme Rouge for Europe, Antar-Agni for the India, Pakistan and Middle East region, and Dyne for the USA. For womenswear they are: Kye for Asia, Harman Grubiša for Australia and New Zealand, Le Kilt for the British Isles, David Laport for Europe, Bodice for the India, Pakistan and Middle East region, and Zaid Affas for the USA.

On Wednesday 10th, the schedule will feature, as already announced, a show by US label Brooks Brothers, marking its bicentenary. Thursday 11th will be the day of the catwalk shows by the event's two Japanese guests of honour, Jun Takahashi and his Undercover label, and Takahiro Miyashita with his Takahiromiyashita The Soloist label.

Pitti Uomo also confirmed to us that it will host Italian sportswear label Malibu 1992, in one of its special events dedicated to emerging designers. Malibu 1992 has been showing in Milan for the last two seasons. The label was founded in 2015 by Dorian Gray, the stage name of DJ Dorian Stefano Tarantini, 35, who has a long history of producing catwalk show soundtracks, while scores of party-goers have danced to his house music.

Dorian Gray is obsessed with the imagery of Californian clubbing in the 1990s, a period whose energy, ambience and night-life aesthetics he strives to recreate through sartorial sportswear featuring hi-tech fabrics, all of it made in Tuscany.

Pitti Uomo has chosen cinema as the theme of its 93rd edition, adopting the slogan 'Pitti Live Movie'. The show's interior design has been entrusted to Sergio Colantuono, who will attribute a specific film genre to each of the show's sections, from noir to adventure films, to action and sports films.