According to the data provided by the organisers at the Fortezza da Basso, last week, 19,000 buyers (20,500 those in the record edition of June 2016) made their entry to Pitti Immagine Uomo. While foreigners are in line with last year, the number of Italians dropped by almost 9%. This defection was also partly due to Thursday’s national transport strike on Thursday/Friday. Overall visitors should have been around 30,000. “It was not disappointing data”, however, it made us think. Raffaello Napoleone, CEO of Pitti, said: “I remember that Pitti once took place in September and February while we are now in January and June. Maybe an update is needed. Change, perhaps, dictated by the need to anticipate the fashion week of Milan and, consequently, also the Florentine event, but not entirely convincing the exhibitors: “Pitti’s dates are perfect,” Gianni Giannini summarises Doucal’s shoe factory in Montegranaro. A few hours after, Napoleone “categorically denied the intention to move the dates”.
Meanwhile, France, the Czech Republic and Romania are the European countries from which Expo Riva Schuh has recorded a larger increase of visitors. The trade fair, held from 10 to 13 June welcomed 11,224 buyers, up to 200 guests more if compared to last summer. A reassuring stability, confirmed by the sharp rise in arrivals from Turkey, China and the United States. Numbers and trends that make lots of hope given the 89th edition, scheduled for January 13 to 16, 2018.
