Things to do in Florence, and where to stay: see the art – Uffizi Gallery, Michelangelo’s David – and Ferragamo’s shoes, and shop on the Ponte Vecchio
- In the Italian city for the Pitti Uomo menswear fashion shows, Alan Behr makes the most of the art in the Uffizi Gallery and Galleria dell’Accademia
- He also visits a museum in a medieval palace devoted to the luxury brand Ferragamo for an exhibition about its founder, shoemaker Salvatore Ferragamo
The small, tan taxi hurtles down a Florentine side street too narrow for baton twirling. My driver slices over the Arno River on one of the city’s short stone bridges, arriving quickly below the Fortezza da Basso – a 14th century fortress built into the city walls and now looming over the opposite bank like a hibernating bear blocking the road.
Above the tall Gothic arch at the entrance, a large Italian flag pirouettes in the winter breeze. An oversized, white-faced clock within says PITTI in black letters. This is Pitti Uomo, the semi-annual fashion trade show that is almost as much theatre as it is business.
Menswear brands, both famous and emerging, take booths in spreading pavilions or in free-standing glass houses in the courtyard. They serve espresso, Prosecco and other treats, and work to lure buyers from around the world.
The keynote is luxury, but variety is the byword, with booths selling everything from new trends in athleisure to masterwork examples of the not-yet-dead tie and business suit.
As a German, I am proud of the Neudeutsch (New German) “special project”: a pavilion in which noteworthy young German brands are given the chance to showcase themselves.
