It’s aperitivo hour in Firenze, and as the sky streaks a luscious shade of coral, the golden light hits the St Regis hotel Terrazza, overlooking the Arno River. Aperol Spritzes the same shade as the sunset circulate, as the most stylish men on the planet raise a cheerful salute to the city that’s defined spellbinding beauty for centuries.
Welcome to Pitti Uomo, the bi-annual Florentine men’s fashion fair, where the drinks are flowing, the bars packed and the tourists agog at the sight that unfolds daily as flocks of Pitti Peacocks – a rare breed of men who dress up to the nth degree and shake their tail feathers around the piazzas and cobbled vias – do their thing. At ground level, away from the theatrics, there are real lessons of Italian style to be had in how the countrymen with claim to the finer things in life, approach the art of getting dressed.
“It is a way of dressing. Youthful shapes with classic elegance,” says the master of Italian classicism, Brunello Cucinelli, who showcased his new men’s collection at Pitti Uomo. “It’s about going back to chicness now. Italians have a way of mixing and matching colours and textures. It’s the way you combine your outfits, how you go about your lifestyle.” Diego Della Valle, the CEO of Tod’s, has another take; “Italians love the best in quality, from our clothes to our food. It’s a lifestyle that calls for it – the best pomodoro, the best leather – so we appreciate that sense of refinement in all walks of life.”