Childrenswear grew by 4% in 2019, arriving at 3.1 billion euros, for a +0.5% rise over what was originally predicted in January. This is the data released by the Confindustria Moda Research Centre presented during the virtual Pitti Bimbo press conference held this past 27 July. Exports were also on the rise by +6.6% annually, bringing foreign sales to a total of 1.27 billion euros. A positive trend brought to a halt by Covid-19, which saw sales down by -5.2% in January and February 2020, while during the lockdown of March and April, they fell by an astounding -62.7%, bringing the quarter’s average to -33.2%,.
The Pitti Connect platform, active since 16 June, welcomed new kids’ collections for the first digital edition of Pitti Bimbo, which will be held under the “Out of the Blue” summer theme of the fairs and will remain online until 9 October. The digital fair will re-propose the physical sections of the fair: New Born, Step by Step, Ecoethic with a focus on sustainable fashion, and The Nest featuring emerging realities selected in collaboration with the Little Pop Up Berlin store/concept lab.
At the same time, the virtual edition of Pitti Bimbo will revive the same emotions of the physical fair, presenting a series of special projects and events. There will be the special participation of Mattel that celebrates its 75th anniversary by creating a special edition of the card game UNO with illustrations by designer Alessandro Enriquez. At the same time, there will also be Barbie who will select her outfits from the collections presented at Pitti Connect, and Hot Wheels that will be presented as part of a special carousel.
Moreover, the collaboration between The Playful Living with the Politecnico of Milan will trace the profile of the new kids store in a digital context: a programme of talks will revolve around the theme of retail, of how emotions have changed it in recent years, and of how recent happenings have changed the purchasing experience.
There will also be the Fashion Carousel, a virtual merry-go-round always designed by Alessandro Enriquez and dedicated to different fashion brands, with participation already confirmed by names like Alberta Ferretti Kids, Dolce&Gabbana, Ermanno Scervino Junior, and Miss Blumarine…
Finally, there will be the itineraries of style, trends, and scouting presented through the collections of exhibitors: this and much more will be on the agenda. So, “On the Pitti Connect platform there will be special fairs, with the summer collections of brands and exhibiting companies, already around 400 of Pitti Uomo, Bimbo and Filati, including names of reference on the international fashion and lifestyle scene – announces Agostino Poletto, general manager of Pitti Immagine –and with a program of digital projects to discover new points of view, deepen and be inspired. We were looking for emergency solutions, but we also found opportunities for tomorrow: Pitti Connect has given a strong technological acceleration to our salons and represents the element of continuity that will bring us towards January 2021, when the physical and virtual fair will integrate with each other”.
Among the many names that have already registered for the virtual fair of Pitti Bimbo are included footwear brands like Atlanta Mocassin, Colors of California, Crocs, Mini Melissa, Naturino, and Pépé Children Shoes.
