The Coolest Italian Brands We Saw at Pitti Uomo

As a tradeshow, Pitti Uomo is stuffed to the gills with plenty of brands—though admittedly, that doesn't mean that each one is truly something to write home about. Even more, while Pitti Uomo is quintessentially Italian in nearly every way, almost half of the brands are coming from outside of Italy's borders.

As a fashion culture, Italy is known for tailoring, and rightfully so: the country has informed much of what the world knows and expects today in regards to quality leather working and tailored clothing. But anyone who's seen even a few street style photos, and shopped at their local suit store can tell you that much. In the interest of going off the beaten path, we scoured Pitti Uomo 88 to look for brands that turned tradition on its head—or threw it away altogether. Sure Florence is a great place to discover the next best suiting designer, but the presenters inside the Fortezza da Basso are proving that "Made in Italy" means a lot more than double-breasted suiting and sprezzatura. These are The Coolest Italian Brands We Saw at Pitti Uomo​.

One look at the work of Pierre-Louis Mascia, and it's no surprise that his background is in illustration. The most noticeable aspect of his work is that it is riddled in prints, patterns, and colors—executed in a way that very few could do successfully. Made in Italy by way of PLM's French background, the brand makes its name on the quality of its accessories (scarves especially), but has branched out to everything from jacquard bombers, to printed espadrilles.

As Mascia says himself, his work is a collage; a blend of illustration, 3D collages, and luxury fabrics. Taking a look through his previous work reinforces this, as PLM couples sportswear block lettering with luxe florals that would seem at home on something like an Hermès scarf. But even with contemporary elements, Mascia notes that he's not playing to trends. “I have an Hermès scarf. I imagine that the designer never thinks if they are trendy. The design is enough. Good fabric, and good design, it's enough. But when I think of how to prepare the collection, I think of one way—and that's just an option.”

Mascia encourages those who wear his designs to wear them “their way.” With so many inspirations and concepts packed into every fabric, of every piece, its clear that experimentation is at the very heart of the brand itself.

Herno been had the outerwear game on lockdown. Founded in 1948 by Giuseppe Marenzi, like much of Italy's greatest brands, the Herno brand has remained securely in the family. It's that familiar touch that really informs the designs themselves, as nearly 70 years in the game has allowed the brand to hone its craft; those within the brand will tell you that Herno makes outerwear…and nothing else.

While the product is admittedly for an older dude, it's Herno Laminar that contemporary guys can get behind. Something between Prada Sport and Arc'teryx Veilance, Herno Laminar utilizes various degrees of Gore-Tex tech with the traditional Italian touches, cuts, and fits that Herno has built its name off of. It also helps that everyone from Ralph Lauren to Hermès have reached out to Herno for their production expertise. But if you're still looking for something that's truly “Italian sprezz,” look no further than the recently revived hertiage line, the “Herno Rain Colletion”. It's everything that made the brand so popular in the '40s, '50s, '60s, and '70s—available to guys today.

Named after the shepherds and cowboys native to Tuscany, Buttero began it's lineage in 1974 under the Sani family—who still runs the brand today. While the label made its name for riding boots, there's no doubt that the brand has every aspect of footwear covered, particularly with sneakers.

For spring/summer 2016, the brand has added in vegetable leathers, with several models set atop Vibram soles, to maximize comfort and fabric quality. Luca Sani, son of founder Mauro Sani stresses that the brand gives “lots of importance to the materials, from the leather to the treatment. It can only be done with good materials.” for Pitti Uomo 88, Buttero strived to combine “the sophisticated with the ethical…while never sacrificing the quality of the leather.” For Buttero, the product is consistently designed to be structurally sound, without sacrificing the luxury details that have supported the brand for decades.

“They've got classic covered,” says Nick Wooster on partner Lardini. He's right, Lardini has been a pillar of Italian quality and tailoring since 1978. But when looking for something different, the brand (who happen to be winners of the “Pitti Immagine Uomo 2015 Award”) reached out to notable menswear gawd Nick Wooster to add punch to the classically Italian brand. Wooster admits that it was a collaboration “born out of the idea that what could be the other side of Lardini.” It's a collection that comes to life through the skills that Lardini has built its brand on, but seen through the lens of a contemporary, fun, experimental style.

Wooster's touches are very obvious: spliced-fabric topcoats and tie dyed button downs seem strangely complimentary to a string of shirting, exclusive GREATS sneakers, and jackets which are inspired by the color “acid”. When seeing the collection altogether (which, at Pitti Uomo 88, is situated directly behind the main Lardini booth) it certainly feels like Wooster + Lardini is a member of the Lardini family. But instead of filling the role of a metaphorical younger brother, it's as though Wooster + Lardini is like an estranged uncle: still part of the family tree, just with plenty of wild experience and great stories.

If Visvim was Italian, then it'd be called President's. Creatively directed and designed by Guido Biondi, the brand was initially started by Biondi's grandfather in 1957, only to shutter and be revived again under Guido's direction. Even though President's was out of the game for a few decades, it still benefits from his families expertise—namely 60 years in tailoring and Italian design. The original brand didn't have what you'd see today, with the current iteration of President's inspired by California skate culture of the '70s, Japanese indigo techniques, and English animal hides. Prime pieces are hand dyed M-65 jackets, 3D laser-cut graphic T-shirts, Japanese denim shirting (with selvedge detailing), and a buttery suede bomber jacket. If you took all of the aesthetic charm of Montauk, and happened to place it just along Florence's Erno River, we'd imagine that President's would turn out to be the final result.

The youngest brand on this list, The Gigi is already making menswear waves. That's because its founders, brothers Mario and Pierluigi "Gigi" Boglioli, cut their teeth in the family business, which, if you've heard their last name before, is the same Boglioli that's become synonymous with the unconstructed Italian suiting look favored by guys like Lapo Elkann and Nick Wooster. The Gigi takes that family tradition and infuses it with a bold, modern attitude. Think loud patterns, wide vertical stripes, all applied to classic silhouettes like single-pleated trousers and double-breasted topcoats. It's the kind of classic menswear that also looks good with modern trends like layer-worthy elongated tees and slick bomber jackets. Tailoring ain't dead!

Taking Italy's tailoring traditions with modern fabrics rooted in the past. That means bonded wools and cotton blends so light you'd swear they're weightless. Barena's key offerings include unstructured outerwear ranging from slouchy topcoats with enough structure that they perfectly walk the line between cozy and classy, as well as cuffed hem trousers that give everyone else's jogger pants a run for their money. Barena's so gung ho about taking their materials to the next level that they literally have a laboratory in Venice where their menswear mad scientists conduct their experiments. How's that for dedication?

Stoffa's booth at Pitti, it's because they didn't have one, but you may recognize the brand's founder from numerous Pitti street style pics. Stoffa is the brainchild of Agyesh Madan, who's relatively young himself—dude's not even 30 yet! Which is why it's all the more impressive that his resumé includes a few years of working on the production side of Isaia, the storied Italian suitmaker and all-around purveyor of high-end Italian tailoring. Madan's Stoffa label takes his experience from Isaia and applies it to a small, specialized line of product—really beautiful accessories. He's got plenty of ties and scarves, but the standout pieces are definitely his rollable felt hats. Made out of rabbit felt or beaver, Stoffa is able to offer these at a crazy reasonable price (about a half a Borsalino) because of its direct-to-consumer business model.

When Jeremy Scott for Moschino was announced as Pitti Uomo 88's guest designer, people already knew from the jump that the collection would be an interesting one. The designer didn't disappoint, not only bringing out Katy Perry on the runway, but also presenting clothes that further entrenched streetwear's flag into the premier tailored menswear tradeshow on the planet. Scott did include plenty of nods to classic men's staples like suits and topcoats, both integral to Moschino's Italian heritage, but added details like all-over embroidery and utilized sheer fabrics like tulle. There was a heavy casual feel to the collection, with the most eye-catching pieces being the graphic prints that took the term "UOMO" and gave them all the attitude of a NASCAR logo.