Pitti Uomo 101 loses guest of honour Ann Demeulemeester

By

Dominique Muret

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Jan 7, 2022

Clouds are gathering over the world’s premier menswear show, Pitti Uomo. After Brunello Cucinelli announced its withdrawal yesterday, the Florentine event, which is set to open the menswear season on Tuesday January 11, has lost another major name. Guest of honour Ann Demeulemeester has in fact decided to postpone its planned event to the show’s next edition, in June 2022.

 
Ann Demeulemeester, bought by Milanese entrepreneur Claudio Antonioli in September 2020, stated in a brief note that it has decided to “celebrate its history in more auspicious circumstances,” preferring to wait for Pitti Uomo's summer session to stage its event.
 
The label was planning to hold a lavish gala evening on Wednesday January 12 at the Stazione Leopolda venue, staging a fashion and music performance featuring selected looks from the latest collections and archive items tracing its nearly 40-year-long history, but as the spread of Covid-19 is accelerating again, it had no choice but to cancel. Given the event's proposed format, it would have been difficult to comply with social distancing rules.

“The event we wanted to stage, shared enthusiastically with Claudio Antonioli and Ann Demeulemeester, was a celebration of fashion, music, entertainment and social participation, one in which people were an integral part of the show with their interactions. Over the last few weeks, we have tried to adapt the format to the [health] situation’s evolution, in order to ensure maximum safety for all those involved in the production, but this has led to the project gradually losing its substance, until it was no longer possible to preserve its original spirit,” said Lapo Cianchi, head of communications and special events at organiser Pitti Immagine.

In a press release, Pitti Immagine stated it has “reluctantly” opted to postpone the event to June, while insisting that the 101st edition of the menswear show will go ahead as planned on January 11-13 with 600 exhibitors. Pitti Immagine is well aware that other withdrawals and changes in plan might occur before then.
 
Since Monday, faced with the fifth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, the world of fashion has been hit by countless event cancellations. In Paris, international lingerie show SIL and the Interfilière show have decided to postpone their sessions, as did Maison&Objet. In Italy, international jewellery and goldsmithing show VincenzaOro has pushed back its January edition to March.
 
As for the menswear fashion weeks, both Milan and Paris have confirmed their programme. However, some labels have opted not to stage shows, like Giorgio Armani, which has cancelled all the shows planned in January in Milan and during Paris Haute Couture Week.