Sustainability and internationalization at the core of the 97th edition of Pitti Uomo, the Florence menswear show running January 7 to 10.
During Pitti’s opening ceremony at Palazzo Vecchio, Claudio Marenzi, chairman of Confindustria Moda, hinted at the opportunity to introduce a green industry 4.0, an evolution of the industry 4.0 project orientated to sustainability. Herno’s patron addressed the government and asked for “special attention to be paid to incentives and support policies for innovation, partly already included in Industry 4.0”.
Reliable studies have shown what will happen in five years from now: the world’s largest departments stores will be choosing at least half of their suppliers based on their environmental certifications, while two thirds of consumers worldwide will be willing to pay 10% more to buy sustainable products at comparable quality and style. The same studies specify that in the next ten years, over 90% of businesses will invest in sustainability.
Dario Nardella, the mayor of Florence, was the first to reply. He launched an “agreement between mayors and entrepreneurs on sustainable growth”. “Fashion has been one of the first sectors to face the challenges of ecology and sustainable development”, he said. “In politics, too, cities have been the first to see how crucial it is to join sustainable development actions”.
Prince Charles, the patron of Campaign for Wool, also commented on environmental sustainability. The Prince of Wales sent his usual inaugural greetings to the show by stressing how “natural materials, which are not made from fossil fuel, are not inflammable and which biodegrade naturally, have an important part to play as we face up to the enormous challenges of climate change”.
“Only wool provides the ultimate assurance of sustainability”, the Prince stated. “My hope is that all wool-producing nations will develop a spirit of cooperation to market this extraordinarily practical, versatile fiber”.
ICE’S chairman Carlo Maria Ferro has tackled internazionalition. As he pointed out, ICE “has been supporting and partnering with Pitti since 2014, for an overall investment of 13 million euros. This edition has seen the largest investment so far in the history of our collaboration. We are driven by our strong focus on internationalization – this year, 200 buyers and 160 journalists from 4 continents are attending – and we have been working in synergy with other major Italian fashion events. ICE’s support to the whole fashion system has also been rising: in 2019, the funds allocated to the sector grew by double-digit percentage to reach 31 million euros.”
