Fashion Trends at Vintage Selection & Pitti Filati

An exciting event combination of sartorial archives and raw materials, Vintage Selection 32 and Pitti Immagine Filati are sure to excite fashionistas and designers alike.

 June 27 – 29: VINTAGE SELECTION 32. Medici Pavilion of the Fortezza da Basso, Florence. Open to the public 9 am – 7 pm Wed. 27, 9 am – 4 pm Thurs. 28 and Fri. 29. Admission: €5. Reduced admission coupon can be found on the website.

Everything old is new again: vintage is back in a big way: ‘90s-cut Levi’s 501s, 40s-style bakelite bags, and 70s-striped micro-tees are currently on trend. Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele mixes stately antique with vintage kitsch, Rodarte’s Laura and Kate Mulleavy infuse their garments with pre-Raphaelite charm, and Saint Laurent’s Anthony Vaccarello plucks designs straight from YSL’s archives. Designers, consumers, and enthusiasts will find both inspiration and unique goods at Vintage Selection: Florence’s annual vintage fair.

The theme of this year’s 32nd edition of Vintage Selection is “Optical Power.” Sixties and Eighties-style optic-illusion-printed vignettes will be stationed around the historic 16th century Medici Pavilion of Fortezza da Basso. The exhibition, entitled “Widen your Senses,” will feature graphic-printed backdrops positioned amidst the booths.

Serving as a creative stylistic laboratory and marketplace, Vintage Selection draws thousands of world-wide visitors. Vintage vendors from all over Italy will sell accessories, clothing, books, and design objects at the fair. Chunky gold jewelry, Pucci-printed silk dresses, bookish tweeds, silky foulard ties, and worn suede bags will be spread over exhibitor tables and displays for visitors’ perusal.

At Vintage Selection, premier collectors like Vintage Delirium di Franco Jacassi will sell clothes and accessories alongside Agenda Vintage’s velvet-paged books. A.N.G.E.L.O., one of Europe’s largest vintage shops, sells a wide range of pieces, some of which date back as far as the 1850’s. Florence’s Julesejim & Archivio Storico is a destination for stylists and fashion researchers: selling vintage clothes from 1800 to 1950. Florence’s own Street Doing Vintage Couture will have a booth piled high with buttery soft bags, riotous-colored scarves and exquisitely tailored retro clothing.

Other fair vendors include American Bijoux Vintage, Anna Maria e Margherita Vintage, Etoile Vintage di Chiarugi Stella, Fernanda Vintage, Giratempo Vintage, Only One Bresicia, Recollection by Albrici, Shabby Chic Vintage, Venturino Archivi and Vintageart Bologna. Expect to find rare treasures: ethereal slip dresses, grunge flannels, soft quilted bags and embroidered kimonos and more.

June 27 – 29: PITTI IMAGINE FILATI 83. Fortezza da Basso, Florence. Open to buyers and the press 9 am – 6 pm on Wed. 27 – Thurs- 28, 9 am – 4 pm on Fri. 29. Registration information is available on the website.

Vintage Selection will be held concurrently with Florence’s Pitti Immagine Filati: a yarn and fiber tradeshow and observatory for future trends. At Pitti Immagine Filati, knitwear manufacturers from all over the world come to learn about and purchase yarns. The 26 represented Italian spinning mills will showcase threads like delicate silk, rainbow-tinted cashmere, and pastel-dyed linen. Visitors attending Pitti Immagine Filati can also riffle through Vintage Selection’s diverse commodities for archival research and inspiration.

Pitti Immagine Filati will also feature a contest, Feel the Yarn, that awards aspiring designers from the best international fashion schools. Students representing schools from Beijing, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, Israel, Paris, Italy, and the UK will compete at the fair. Competitors will present two looks produced with materials from participating Italian spinning mills.  (isabelle blank)