Fendi to Hold Men’s Spring 2024 Show in Tuscany During Pitti Uomo
MILAN — Fendi will hold its men’s spring 2024 show in Tuscany on June 15, during Pitti Uomo.
The show will take place in the late afternoon that day at the recently inaugurated Fendi factory in Capannuccia, near Bagno a Ripoli, a 30-minute drive from Florence. Pitti Uomo is scheduled to run June 13 to 16.
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“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,” said Serge Brunschwig, chairman and chief executive officer of Fendi. “It is a special place for our artisans and local community as it represents Fendi heritage and creativity, nurturing precious handmade abilities of its artisans and preserving Made in Italy.”
Silvia Venturini Fendi, artistic director of accessories and menswear, said she was “thrilled” the show would 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.”
The event was decided upon following discussions with Pitti Immagine, which organizes Pitti Uomo, and the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, with the idea that the Rome-based brand will return to show during Milan Fashion Week starting from January next year with its men’s fall 2024 collection.
“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,” said Antonio De Matteis, Kiton’s CEO and newly appointed president of Pitti Immagine.
“This presentation further confirms the international standing of the fair and the quality of its special events. 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,” he added.
Capasa, chairman of the Camera, underscored that “Men’s fashion week in Italy is one,” starting in Florence and continuing in Milan, “with two different and complementary models. The synergy between our two realities makes the Italian men’s fashion proposal the most important in the world.”
Capasa said Fendi’s choice of presenting its menswear collection at the brand’s Tuscan factory “is an important message of enhancing the fashion industry and local territory. It is amazing that a great brand, a member of CNMI, by opening the doors of its own factory highlights the work of craftsmanship that makes Italian fashion unique in the world.”
The Fendi plant was inaugurated last October, as reported. It is nestled into the region’s countryside and was conceived with the goal of having its artisans and employees benefit from the natural sunlight and the impressive landscape outside, telegraphing Fendi’s ongoing commitment toward sustainability and social responsibility.
The plant, which produces some of Fendi’s most iconic bags, from the Baguette to the Peekaboo, and small leather goods, occupies the site of an abandoned kiln, the Fornace Brunelleschi.
The complex, which produces around 200,000 pieces a year, is surrounded by seven hectares of greenery, over an area spanning 324,000 square feet.
A 700 olive tree grove is seen throughout all areas of the park, allowing the production of olive oil from the factory itself of up to 900 liters a year.
The project was completed in two years, as planned, and has created 350 new jobs, which will double in the next five years. In addition to helping Fendi increase its control over its product pipeline, the plant is part of an initiative to train new generations of artisans and to communicate to future generations. The factory is expected to be the first Fendi plant to reach the prestigious LEED Platinum certification this year.
Raffaello Napoleone, CEO of Pitti Immagine, emphasized the “special bond” with Venturini Fendi, “built over the years through various collaborations, always in support of new talents.”
Holding the show during Florence’s Pitti Uomo “is a precious and emblematic occasion for the city and its productive poles as well. In fact, the factory is a large structure dedicated above all to leather goods, representing one of the best expressions of the manufacturing, industrial and artisanal tradition of our territory and region. Fendi’s investment harnesses the skills and knowledge rooted here and at the same time nurtures them, contributes to their modernization, and combines them with high-quality design in fashion and accessories,” he said.
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