Pitti W

Three cheers for the cool kids at Kenzo and Maison Kitsuné: Kenzo will serve as the guest designer for the men's trade show Pitti Uomo, and Maison Kitsuné will occupy the same role at its women's counterpart, Pitti W.

Maison Kitsuné's Gildas Loaec and Masaya Kuroki will host an event at Pitti W when the shows set up in Florence between Jan. 8 and 11, 2013. No plans have been revealed for what Kenzo's Carol Lim and Humberto Leon will do, but past Pitti guest designers have created special presentations of their work. When Carven's Guillaume Henry was Pitti Uomo's guest designer this Summer, for example, he staged a presentation on a soccer field, complete with a marching band, a waiter race, and a seated lunch for members of the press.

Still, it sounds like Kenzo might have something up their sleeves. Lapo Cianchi, Pitti's communications and event director, said, "These two designers know their customers, they know how to create immediate and special things and how to build a world around their work." We wonder what that world will look like at Pitti?

Photo: Carol Lim and Humberto Leon at Kenzo's Fall 2012 show in Paris.

Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos will head to Florence this Summer to show their work at the 10th edition of the trade show Pitti W.

Lapo Cianchi, chairman of the influential seasonal Pitti trade shows, said his team invited the design duo because they "were looking for a modern approach to feminine elegance that is constant, profound and has the ability to think about itself. We saw this in the evolution of their collections, a knowledgeable process that develops around surprising colors, body-conscious draping and light sculpting. It was also interesting to see how the designers' two distinct spirits come together and reinterpret fashion's classic elements."

Pilotto and De Vos met as students at Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts and started Peter Pilotto together in 2008. In 2009, the two won the British Fashion Council's Emerging Talent Award, and since then its collections have gotten favorable reviews. In the past, Pitti W has selected Diane von Furstenberg, Gareth Pugh, Haider Ackermann, and Proenza Schouler as guest designers.

Pitti W runs in conjunction with its menswear counterpart Pitti Uomo from June 19 to 22.

Photo: A look from Peter Pilotto's Fall 2012 collection.

>> Next January, Gareth Pugh will show for the first time in Italy — as part of the womenswear trade show Pitti W in Florence, which runs Jan. 11 through 14.

Pugh will create a collection specifically for the event — his spokesman said he recently visited Florence and had his eye on a central venue but hadn't yet decided on whether he'll show in runway or video format. This is a one-time thing for the designer — Pugh follows in the footsteps of Haider Ackermann, Giles Deacon, Diane von Furstenberg, Giambattista Valli, and Proenza Schouler and will continue to show during Paris Fashion Week.

Lapo Cianchi, communications and events director of Pitti Immagine, said Pugh's choice to stage a video presentation during Paris Fashion Week in October was part of the reason he was chosen to participate: "We have followed his work in London and Paris, seen his style evolve — from the Gothic atmospheres of the early days to today’s decidedly flamboyant effects — as well as the way he presents his collections: the video screened at the last Paris Fashion Week brought new energy to the discussion on the use of multimedia technologies in fashion. So we had all the right reasons for inviting Gareth Pugh to Florence and Pitti, where there is plenty of space for fashion experiments which can dialogue with the city’s unique historical and artistic venues. We are very happy that Gareth Pugh responded to our invitation with such enthusiasm."

>> Haider Ackermann was invited to present a Pre-Spring 2011 collection — even though he does not typically do pre-collections — as part of Pitti W, the womenswear portion of Pitti Uomo currently going on in Florence.  He promised Style.com that "my friend Jamie Bochert will be playing piano and singing" at the show, and that's just what happened yesterday.

Chandeliers were hung from the ceiling at the Palazzo Corsini, where the show took place, and Bochert was the first model out, walking in silence before taking a seat at a grand piano. She opened the the show with a piano medley, which included a rendition of Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," and was accompanied by a violinist and a cellist. Garance Dore, who captured the show, described the proceedings: "I’ve never heard her voice and I was absolutely blown away. It was soft, suave, and dreamy, like a summer night. Then slowly, to her music, the models started out. After a few sublime songs, Jamie got up. The show was over."

A video of Bochert's performance, below.

The video! »

>> Haider Ackermann Named Guest of Honor at Upcoming Pitti W — The last two Pitti W events in Florence, where women's designers showcase their pre-collections, have hosted Proenza Schouler and Giles as the guest of honor. For the upcoming fair, from June 15 to 18, Haider Ackermann has been named the honoree; he's expected to unveil a special collection designed specifically for the event — even though he typically does not produce pre-collections — that will possibly be commercialized. [WWD]