The 66th edition of Pitti Imagine Filati, which takes place at the Fortezza da Basso in Florence from 27-29 January 2010, will focus on research and creativity with new concepts and a new layout for the Spazio Ricerca. Following on from the success of the previous event the show will once more team up with associated event PRIMA Moda-Tessuto at the Fortezza

“The strength of Pitti Filati lies in the fact that it is a real research lab”, says Agostino Poletto, Deputy General Manager of Pitti Immagine. “It is the privileged vantage point for viewing fashion trends of the future. Our audience of top buyers from all over the world, as well as designers from the biggest names in fashion, comes to Florence to see excellence in international yarn manufacturing and to get new ideas and inspiration. That is why we have again revolutionized the Pitti Filati Spazio Ricerca.”

“Starting with this edition it will be in the heart of the fair, on the Lower Level of the Main Pavilion. Within the itinerary that moves through the collections there will be five dedicated stages whose contents and inputs on trends will develop into a creative symbiosis with the yarns and with the services and technologies and the style bureaus in the Fashion at Work section. We believe that putting the collections and the Spazio Ricerca in a single area will provide a significant stimulus for our buyers’ research work. And, the opportunities for a better grasp of the trends will be increased by PRIMA Moda Tessuto the associated event sponsored by the Consorzio Pratotrade that made its debut at the Fortezza da Basso during the last edition of Pitti Filati”.    

NO is the theme of the new Spazio Ricerca

So, it’s a new concept and new layout for the Spazio Ricerca and the Fashion at Work area of Pitti Filati. They will both be on the Lower Level of the Main Pavilion making it the gravitational fulcrum for creativity.

NO is the ironic, thought-provoking title of the new Spazio Ricerca staged by fashion designer Angelo Figus as artistic director and knitwear expert Nicola Miler who will present the 2011 spring/summer trends in the setting by Alessandro Moradei.

NO is a study of the dichotomies and ambiguities between being and seeming, between essential and superfluous, between sophistication and simplicity that increasingly characterize today’s world. It is an invitation to say ‘no’, to reject everything that is imposed and not developed for us as human beings but only as consuming beings. “No to garbage, no to processed foods, no to designer foods, no to disposables, no to the umpteenth editorial on rock stars, no to advertising campaigns, no to the latest model cell phone, no to body building, no to folk, to retro to trends…”because only like this “will the world to come offer simple, honest opportunities within the reach of all”.

NO will develop 5 strong themes in just as many installations scattered through the Lower Level: NO E-MAIL, write me a letter (with an invitation to retake possession of handwriting); NO RESTAURANT, bake me some bread (retake possession of the home to prepare meals); NO SUPERMARKET, I will grow some greens (get back to direct contact with the earth); NO WASHING MACHINE, I will do it by hand (get back to a balanced relationship with water); NO CAR, let’s go for a walk (retake possession of the space around us).   

Vintage Selection No. 15

From 27 to 31 January 2010, concurrently with Pitti Filati 66, the Stazione Leopolda in Florence will host Vintage Selection, the fair dedicated to vintage clothing, accessories and design objects. It is an essential event for cool hunters and style bureaus of prestigious international fashion houses as well as a must for a huge audience of aficionados and collectors, organisers say.

Vintage Selection is a treasure trove that looks to the past, and it is a rich archive that today’s designers dip into seeking inspiration for their new collections. This edition will feature a new improvement – a clearer division between the luxury and more informal collections, the two main segments of vintage fashions and they will be shown in the LUXURY COLLECTIONS and SPORTSWEAR COLLECTIONS areas respectively. And there will be ‘Happy Kilo’, a delightfully amusing temporary store where a series of specially selected garments will be sold ‘by weight’.

Vintage Selection is produced by the Stazione Leopolda in cooperation with A.N.G.E.L.O.

Pitti Filati 66 - the names and numbers at this edition 

• World preview of 2011 spring-summer collections of yarns for the knitting industry

• 90 companies  (with 30 in the Fashion At Work section), approximately 110 brands 26 of which are from outside of Italy
• with important returns on the parts of Filartex, Ima Filati, Emilcotoni, Monticolor, Manifattura di Legnano and the German machine builder, Stoll at the Fashion at Work section
• Area      23,000 square meters
• 3,900 buyers came to the last winter edition and 1,421 (37% of the total) were from outside of Italy
• the main foreign reference markets: Germany, Great Britain, France, Japan, Spain, United States, Holland,  Switzerland, Turkey, Sweden, Hong Kong, and Russia.