One of the main international events of men’s fashion – Pitti Uomo exhibition – is held in Fortezza da Basso in Florence from June 13 to 16. This year there are only three Ukrainian brands out of 825 brands (59% of which are local).
KSENIASCHNAIDER will present a new collection of recycled denim in a show-and-stand format. The boudoir clothing brand LESSLESS presented a collection for which the prints were designed by a former Dries Van Noten employee. Techwear brand ObjectX used light storing fabrics, triple dyed cotton and other materials. DTF Magazine asked the designers about their participation in the exhibition, expectations and new collections
Ukrainian denim brand was one of the ten participants supported by the sustainable laboratory Materials Innovation Lab (MIL) by fashion conglomerate Kering. The list also includes Cavia and Dalpaos from Italy, Dhruv Kapoor from India, Isnurh from Denmark, Young n Sang from South Korea and others. They will present a show and exhibit in the Superstyling permanent brands pavilion, in the S/Style area, curated by fashion journalist and stylist Giorgia Cantarini: it was she who invited KSENIASCHNAIDER to join the exhibition.
“First we attended the MIL workshop in Milan, and then, based on the new knowledge, we began to create the collection, which we will now present at Pitti Uomo,” — brand co-founder Ksenia Schnaider tells DTF Magazine.
According to her, the new collection features many iconic KSENIASCHNAIDER silhouettes, but almost all of the materials are new to them. Schnaider lists: “Velvet denim by Isko, a material that looks like leather but is made of wood, ‘rusty’ items with Nano Corc dusting, jacquard denim by Outside Denim Lab and many more cool fabrics by top certified manufacturers.”
“My discovery is Nano Corc technology, where the cork material is sprayed onto the denim and it looks aged, but in the coolest sense of the word,” — she adds. — The Lebiu Design team covered items included in the men’s Spring/Summer 2024 collection with this material.”
The Ukrainian boudoir clothing brand, inspired by the aesthetics of the golden age of Hollywood, will also present its collection at the Superstyling pavilion.
LESSLESS, founded by Ukrainian couple Alya and Tim Gonta in 2019, is presented for the first time at Pitti Uomo. The man volunteered to serve at the front after the full-scale invasion began, and Alya Gonta left for Tuscany with her child. This year she decided to take part in the exhibition, “because it’s a cool event, specifically for men’s fashion”.
The brand relies on genderless fashion, so all items from the collection can be worn by anyone regardless of gender. In particular, in the new collection you can find two-sided silk robe, pajamas, sets of Hawaiian shirt and shorts, cashmere coats, as well as linen and satin robes.
The zebra and floral prints were created by Florentina Leitner — she previously worked for Dries Van Noten, which is known for its floral patterns, and now develops the brand of the same name.
“We have been working with her for the second season, I adore her, she’s super-professional and creates great prints,” — Alya shares.
Another direction in which the brand is moving is slow fashion, so, according to the co-founder, they pay a lot of attention to the choice of materials. LESSLESS makes items from natural fabrics such as silk, viscose, linen, as well as Italian cashmere, partially created from recycled cashmere.
“Our fabric manufacturer is picky about the quality of materials,” — Alya says. — When we placed the order, they asked for another month after they made the fabric so that it could “lie” and “rest,” and only a month later they sent it to us.
She explains, “I really like this approach, because it’s closer to slow fashion: when a lot of attention is paid to the quality of materials, the manufacturing process, then these items will last long.”
Kyiv-based techwear clothing brand ObjectX began participating in Pitti Uomo in 2019, just two years after its founding. In total, the brand will present a collection at this exhibition for the eighth time.
‘At Pitti Uomo, we expect, as always, interest from stores and distributors, feedback from journalists and connoisseurs, — the ObjectX team shares. — We are interested to hear what people from all over the world think about our product, especially buyers and shopkeepers, in such a competitive environment as Pitti Uomo’.
The collection, which the brand brought to Florence, included more than 15 items: from minimalist raincoats and pants made of Japanese recycled polyester to ultra-lightweight caps made of triple dyed cotton and T-shirts made of dense but velvet jersey.
Most items were created during a full-scale invasion. ‘We had to work in very different logistics realities and conditions, not to mention the availability of light’, ObjectX tells us.
For example, one of the most interesting materials in the collection is a light storing membrane fabric, which was shipped from South Korea. ‘The manufacturer kept it for a year until we could find a new way to bring it to Ukraine’, the team shares.
