Extra man, this Sunday, in 'El País Semanal'

In January 2020 Florence was a party.

Brioni, the Roman tailor shop that dressed Agent 007 between

and

(all Pierce Brosnan and the seminal Daniel Craig, that is), was celebrating its 75th anniversary with one of those

exceptional as only known for those payments.

There were cakes, or almost, at the gates of the monumental Santa María Novella to get a place to see what Jil Sander (resurrected by the Teutons Lucie and Luke Meier) and maximum expectation before the physical debut of Stefano Pilati (the disinherited Saint Laurent ) with its new gender-fluid tag.

Nothing comparable, in any case, to the collective catharsis of the African-American designer Telfar Clemens, who for two days and two nights literally occupied (okupó?) The aesthetics of white supremacy with the ethics of the New York ghetto, demonstrating that, when he wants, the business knows no racial and class barriers.

Such events took place in the heat of the ninety-seventh edition of Pitti Immagine Uomo, the reference fair for men's clothing.

More than 1,200 firms on display to conjure up not only the market, but also clothing sensibilities and

cultural

of tomorrow.

A temptation for 21,400 buyers from every corner of the globe.

A year later, for the first time in 99 calls, no sign of celebrations in Florence.

At least, of bodies present.

In search of another formality.

The winds of change are blowing for men's clothing.

Technology and sustainability define the future of a sector whose sales already began to slow down before the pandemic and which is now facing a new way of consuming.