Discovery of Pitti 2024 with Edouard, clothing designer

I find this photo perfect because you have Ehtan Desu in full workwear mode at the top, with suit pants, little slippers and opposite, Kenji Cheung in soft tailoring with his moccasins and turtleneck. It really represents the vibe we feel there!

It pretty much follows the trends that I've been observing in my job for a while: for men, the cuts are becoming wider, the materials are more and more relaxed, even the shapes of suits are changing and we're seeing more in addition to style mixes.

On the first day of Pitti, we let our curiosity guide us, we look at what the brands are doing and we go see them. It's a special atmosphere, that too, at Pitti: you meet someone you know, they'll introduce you to another person, one thing leads to another, you find yourself having a drink with someone you don't know not but who has the same passion as you. From a relational point of view, this is important.

This is the winter edition, with the fall-winter 2024/2025 collections. Like every year, everything happens in the interior part. Except this:

It’s the Snowpeak stand, a Japanese outdoor brand that Benoît loves. Tents and outdoor accessories are their main expertise, so they weren't going to expose that indoors! (editor’s note: Antoine, image manager at BonneGueule, tells me that they have the same presentation approach in their store in Tokyo).

We have coffee in the tent with them. They are very nice! We look at the different titanium utensils, mugs and water bottles but it is especially on their interior stand that it becomes interesting for me. Because Snowpeak is moving more and more into urban clothing, for everyday life, and I like to see how they approach this evolution with an outdoor brand background. I find the proposition interesting, all the denim comes from Japan, the materials are well sourced, with quite a bit of originality. At this moment, it reassures me in what I do for BonneGueule so it's quite pleasant.

Next, we'll look at Allied Feather + Down, a brand that recycles used sleeping bag down to make insulation for outdoor clothing. They even have a page where you can find out and trace the batch of your insulation! Originally, they supplied brands but now they are developing their own down jackets. On site, they do quite a few demonstrations comparing recycled and non-recycled feathers, explaining the differences in fill power (editor's note: unit for measuring the insulation capacity of a down. We speak of “fill power” in English). Obviously, as a good fan of technical clothing, Benoît spent an eternity there (laughs).

One of my favorite moments was at the Jamieson's of Shetland stand. It is THE reference for the Shetland sweater (editor's note: iconic round-neck knit in rustic and fluffy wool, often colorful, from the Shetland Islands).

There I meet Peter Jamieson and his son Garry, the 5th generation who have taken over the factory. You see, Mr. Jamieson himself! It would be a dream to do a collaboration with them and after a discussion, they don't hide their desire either. The problem is that they are forced to systematically refuse because they are victims of their success. They are already at 150% of their production capacity…

The other favorite brand for me is Lesoulor. A small workshop based in Béarn, in the Pyrenees. Beautiful shepherd's shoes. Mountain boots made from French materials, with good Norwegian stitching and Vibram soles that we love to use in our collections too. Each shoe is unique. You choose your shape, the materials and colors you want then you give your foot length and width. The guys are so nice.

Then, we stop by Quartz Co. An outdoor and urban brand from Montéal, which produces in Canada with a lot of recycled materials and real technical expertise. The collection is really cool, we chat a little with the founder.

Then I came across a brand called Laureak Mendian. Pure coincidence. And I really like it! They are based in San Sebastian, Spain. It's very casual, not far from what we do ourselves. There are overshirts, work jackets, chinos, parkas... They even did a collaboration with OFR, a Parisian gallery and bookstore near Carreau du Temple. Very successful. They attach importance to the quality and origin of their materials, with organic cottons, PFC Free, recycled fabrics and some certifications. I talk quite a bit with one of the founders and I see a lot of myself in their work.

Obviously, we go see Paraboot . Then Déborah, founder of De Bonne Facture with whom we recently released a collab . Rikki, founder of Kardo who is very happy with our collaboration too. These discussions are an opportunity to get news and, sometimes, to discuss what happens next.

And finally, I come to introduce Clémence Cahu, founder of the Cahu brand, to Benoît and Charlène who did not yet know her story. His family factory manufactured inflatable castles in Normandy. She decided to use their material to create practical and durable bags that she would have liked to find elsewhere.

This evening, she is organizing a dinner with several founders of French brands and we are invited. In the meantime, we're going for a walk in the city with Charlène.

It’s 5:30 p.m., night has fallen, which makes Florence even more beautiful.

I love the sense of detail in architecture. Each little bridge has a crazy charm, with beautiful worn stones. Only small streets. It gives a human scale to the city and allows you to appreciate the whole atmosphere of Pitti, with super stylish people everywhere having drinks and tasting specialties in front of the bars and restaurants.

Florence is also a city where there are a lot of churches. The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore is simply magnificent.

We arrive at the restaurant around 8 p.m. A typical Florence address.

We find there:

• Clémence Cahu, founder of Cahu and therefore organizer of the dinner
• Arthur Robert, DA and founder of the Ouest Paris brand that I know well, accompanied by his two partners Jack and Guillaume
• Florent Coltesse, founder of the Coltesse brand
• Antonin and Mikael, co-founders of the Belledonne sneaker brand

We tell each other about our joys and our struggles as fashion entrepreneurs over a good meal.

We agree on one of the biggest difficulties, which is to stand out from the crowd for a brand. There are plenty of them that have cool, quality products but are drowned in the crowd. It's quite a challenge to find a DA that is good, recognizable and suits you. For me, the number one around the table is Clémence with the imagery of her brand. Just his editorial shot for Pitti was crazy!

This is an interesting conversation for me because I myself started my own brand on the side, Edma. So, talking about entrepreneurship, strategy and AD with people who are at a more advanced stage in this adventure brings me enriching lessons. They tell me that it will take a lot of work but that if I believe in it and surround myself well, I will succeed.

Benoît also talks about the tough times for the sector. The recent decline in the market, the difficulties in production, cash flow, etc. we realize that we all share this, but that it does not extinguish the flame that makes us want to create our clothes. When we receive prototypes in the office, we are very enthusiastic and that is the case for them too.

So, we start to share our development photos, our inspirations. Antonin de Belledonne shows us a sofa whose shape inspired one of his pairs of sneakers. Clémence tells us the story of her father who produced inflatable castles in Normandy (editor's note: from which she therefore used the material to launch her brand of bags).

Everyone has their own little story and it reminds us why we love what we do. It also reminds me why we are at Pitti. We don't leave with an order book or telephone numbers, we leave with good memories and great connections, which create long-term agreements and sometimes lead to beautiful creations.

This second day is freer, my outfit too. I dress more like this in everyday life. I get a lot of inspiration from trends in Japan and Korea. The cap is a Dre project by the way, a Korean brand. The jeans are from Lemaire, the polo comes from Valentino. And unlike the first look, as the whole is more casual, I wear dressier shoes for balance. My GH bass moccasins.

Today, Benoît and Charlène have dates. I have free rein. It's time to go for observation. This is an important step in my work.

At BonneGueule, I take care of the development and design of clothing. I design pieces, choose color palettes with Benoît. I also do what we call fit, material and color allowances. Basically, I define which fabric will go on which piece, on which cut etc. The goal is to obtain a coherent collection plan at the end, with complete silhouettes which will serve as guidelines for the shoots for our image manager Antoine.

We work about 6 months in advance on a collection, even if we want to have more margin in the long term. At the moment, I'm working on next winter and that's good, that's precisely the theme of this Pitti. I've already worked out most of the things, but I still have some pieces that I'm still undecided on. I also have ideas and ranges of fabrics that I keep aside. It's a bit like my substitutes' bench on the side of the pitch.

So, to finalize my decisions, I'm going to look at what's happening today, by observing the combinations of colors, cuts and materials on the different street styles outside the show.

Then I go in to focus on what will happen tomorrow.

I take the time to look at each stand, I talk with the stylists and product managers. Two things concern me in this regard.

The first is the direction most color palettes are taking. They are extremely mineral. This is the case with many greens, which go through these mineral shades then go all the way to khaki. We also find quite a bit of brown, available in beige and ecru.

Then, on knitwear, accessories and certain clothing details, I see accents of red and orange that come back regularly. In almost everyone. It could be a scarf, a pair of gloves or a shoe insert. This is the case at Norda and Nanamica for example, very sober ranges with punchy touches of color (editor's note: Edouard still can't take a photo on the stands, but you can tell us about them when you see them yourself next season).

Second point that stands out to me: the collections are increasingly worked in depth rather than breadth. When you develop in depth, you keep the same cuts that you decline in several colors and materials. When it's wide, you rather broaden your range of cuts by bringing out new ones each time.

For example, at our friends at Kardo, I only see 3 cuts of pants, two cuts of jackets and two cuts of shirts. But they are available in lots of materials and colors, sometimes with details added to them.

On certain stands, you can have a jacket that is one shot in denim base, one shot in wool base. You have the same pants with or without an elasticated waist, with or without cargo pockets, but the construction is the same.

This is interesting for a brand because it limits prototyping costs, since there is no need to develop new patterns for new cuts each time.

It’s more reassuring for customers too. Once a cut suits them, they can buy it again with their eyes closed.

At the end of my tour, around 4 p.m., I have my little conclusions.

We are already moving in the right direction. I find that what we are going to offer next season corresponds well to what people appreciate and defend here.

What I saw gave me a lot of ideas for using the materials I had on hand in other ways. There are a few bandana patterns that I want to lighten, make more airy. Costumes for which I will ultimately add more texture. Colors that I'm going to adjust, because I was still hesitant about them and now I have a very specific desire towards which I want to go.

In any case, I leave with stars in my eyes and with the team, we will do our best to leave the same stars in the eyes of our community next winter. But before that, I have a flight home to catch.