Artigianato & Palazzo

As Good as Bread

The dawn of Italian fashion

The Buontalenti icecream flavor

Pizza to your doorstep

La schiacciata

Discovering San Lorenzo

When business and beauty go hand in hand

Gerard Loft

Why Murano?

Gabs

Angela Caputi's Giuggiù

Old Florentine jewellery

Collecting in Florence Art and Crafts

il Bisonte

Ugo & Carolina

Furla

Furla

Where to shop?

Collecting in Florence

Riguccio Mulas

What fashion is made of

Pitti Filati - yarns and knits
[Susan Glasspool]

What, you may ask, is Pitti Filati? Well it is one of the offspring of Pitti Immagine which organises all the Florentine fashion shows and one of the leading trade fairs of its kind. Pitti Filati however is not just fashion - it is literally what fashion is made of - in other words, all the latest yarns, wools and knits that come in one thousand and one varieties, an unimaginable range of colours, surfaces and mixes. Shaggy, rough, smooth, natural, ecological, brilliant, gilded, you name it, and you can find it - and more - at Pitti Filati. Having waxed poetic about the unimaginable variety of yarns on display,

Don’t forget the Florentine traditions in the preparation of wools, silks and textiles in general. The area around Piazza della Signoria, Piazza Santa Croce, Piazza Cavalleggeri were once full of laboratories for preparing and dying textiles, which was then carted out of the city along today’s fashionable Via della Vigna Nuova. Note that all these places lie close to the Arno, whose waters played an essential part in the preparation processo.

The production moved to Prato when the city expanded. Even so, many old Florentine families made their name - and money - thanks to the wool and silk trade and the dying of textiles, among them the Rucellai, who acquired their name after the head of the family discovered a wonderful plant called Orchilla in the desert, during the Crusades. The leaves of this plant could be used to dye cloth a beautiful purple colour, until then never seen before, and was to bring fame to the Florentine dyers of cloth. Even today the city treasures this colour as one of its dearest symbols.

Even if you are not an expert or have no pretences about designing or making clothes yourself, you will find Pitti Filati exciting and stimulating for the original ideas, designs, splendid colours, textures and yarns, for which it, Florence and Italy, are so famous. In fact it may even encourage you to take up textile or dress design yourself - naturally in Florence!

This important international trade fair therefore testifies to the ancient tradition of clothmaking and dying typical of Florence and Prato. Having waxed poetic about the unimaginable variety of yarns on display, all you have to do now is visit the the many shops in the centre of Florence to find - and then wear - the latest textiles and knits cleverly transformed by all Italian firms into haute couture clothing and knitwear. So make the most of this fashionable opportunity to buy up their wares!

Furla, known worldwide as one of the leading firms in Italian fashion, is one of the most important brand names in fine leatherwear and leather goods. However, as we are talking about Pitti Filati in this issue, look out for the Furla’s textile section, with scarves, hats, and other accessiories, but also jewellery and watch designs. You can find the Furla boutiques in Via della Vigna Nuova 47r or in Via Calzaiuoli 47r.
Spazio Disponibile by Navysky in Borgo San Frediano 17r is instead full of young ad fun fashion ideas that are definitely worth further investigation.



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