Hunting World debuts ready-to-wear at Pitti Uomo

Hunting Word made its ready-to-wear debut with a grand show on Wednesday at Pitti Uomo. A specialist in accessories, the American brand was founded in 1965 by Robert Lee, before it was acquired several years ago by Japanese group Itochu. Hunting World currently boasts 40 stores in Asia and one in Florence, and is distributed across 50 points of sale globally.

For three seasons, Hunting World and its creative team has tapped the talented designer Yosuke Aizawa, better know for his success with his own sportswear label White Mountaineering. After working on the accessories line for the New York brand, the Japanese designer took his hand to ready-to-wear, thus completing Hunting World's repertoire. The brand was already selling some outdoor items, but now offers a complete fashion offering for men and women.

The new collection shown in Florence took inspiration from the world of travel, as seen in the virtual train which ran along the interminable wall of the former Stazione Leopolda, where the show was held. Models opened in jackets and bermudas, clutching large retro suitcases covered in patches, mementoes of places already visited all around the globe. Later, these same blink-and-you'll-miss-it patches adorned denim jackets and other pieces too.

Then came more bags, worn on the shoulder or carried by hand, and the famous "Battue" model known for its dome shape in jacket down, arrived on the runway, but reworked in a special nylon material -- something truly iconic of the brand.

The models represented a city globe-trotter, wearing sneakers, espadrille and leather lace-up shoes, alternating between informal and classic in the same easy step.

The new fashion collection was made up of simple timeless pieces (trenches, jackets, shirts, shorts, skirts and knits), worn tonally or in colour contrast, and each with a little discrete fashion twist: the addition of pockets, some stripes, or the simulated camouflage pattern on a jacket taken from a bag. Mini-florals took on the appearance of lace on a dress, a long sky blue shirt came embossed with a maxi striped skirt, and a sweater hung over wide linen pants.

"It's an American brand made entirely in Italy. I wanted to mix the two cultures, with one part casual and the other part more dressy," Yosuke Aizawa told FashionNetwork.com.

Aizawa's White Mountaineering brand, which targets a much younger market than Hunting World, boasts some 64 resellers in Japan and around 100 distribution points across the globe.

Hunting World debuts ready-to-wear at Pitti Uomo

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