Buyers Select:
Emanuele Alpini & Giuseppe Angiolini
Sugar
Editorial
Edition 100
02.08.2021
Buyers Select focuses on key buyers, who share their favorite pieces from Pitti Connect brands.

A self-described evolving platform of curated ideas encompassing menswear, womenswear, accessories, music, and books, famed Italian concept store Sugar operates at the merger of contemporary culture, fashion, and art. Consisting of individual product rooms, a library, a record store, a gallery, and a club space for private events, the Arezzo-based high-end retail authority is a polyvalent and timely space, within which fashion buyer Giuseppe Angiolini and art director Emanuele Alpini have been perfecting for well over two decades.
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An established fashion consultant, Alpini re-joined Sugar as art director in 2020, 18 years after the beginning of his collaboration with the store — and interrupted by a 6-year stay in Hong Kong. Longtime collaborator Angiolini is the owner of the Sugar label and serves as Honorary President of Camera Italiana Moda.
At the 100th edition of this year’s Pitti Uomo menswear fair, we caught up with the industry insiders to check in about Pitti exhibitor favorites. Watch our interview with Alpini, and check out Angiolini’s selection of top menswear picks of the season below. 
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BALDESSARINI

A simple, linear style with lovely volumes — I especially like the pastel color. And the wide lapel dress that recalls the elegance of the 1970s. 
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FEDERICO CINA

A new interpretation of men’s knitwear, full of irony and outrageousness, playing with yarn to reinvent a garment and make it enduringly current through volumes and colors. 
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SUPERDUPER

Timeless actuality — an iconic garment, with hard materials and romantic shapes. 
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UNIMATIC

A combination of Swiss technique and Italian passion — a young brand that has over time proven it’s possible to redefine an icon such as the driver’s men’s watch. 
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LODENFREY

I love their clean, functional design — one of those Nordic-style garments that are quiet, but always with a touch of rigor and elegance. 
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PATRICK MCDOWELL

Whenever done with intelligence and measure, I love any garment that nods to the genius of Katharine Hamnett. Using iconic garments to directly convey a message isn’t easy or obvious anymore — but it’s clearly possible. 
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PATCHOULI STUDIO

All this oversized knitwear we’ve been seeing has made me want to go back to something to wrap around; perhaps combine it with a wide-volume pant. 
Here, I see some stylistic nods to early 2000s Margiela in the rips and the breaks, while at the same time having a Raf Simons feel in the volumetric proposal. 
 
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INVICTA

The backpack has become a staple piece in many collections — in recent years, it has developed into a must-have. I’d say this is because people love practicality that doesn’t come with a compromise in the brand quality. 
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BRANDBLACK

This is a shoe in which I see the technical spirit of Patagonia and the rigor of Adidas’ Terrex Editions — but with a new spin. In addition, the Vibram sole qualitatively elevates the perception of the shoe. I like that this offers something brand new in the current sneaker panorama. 
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GEOIDI - NICCOLÒ PASQUALETTI

I’m generally conquered by rigorous, angular design — but in this case, what captured my attention is the organic nature of the jewel shape. The curves, the proportions, the colors, and choice of stones seem to form part of an essential balance which makes each piece harmonious and measured: never too much, never too little.
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