Tuesday afternoon, on the first day of men’s trade show Pitti Uomo, around 180 menswear aficionados, influencers and industry insiders paraded through the streets of Florence in their Sunday best. From Pitti Uomo venue Fortezza da Basso down to Santa Novella Square, onlookers gawked, slightly baffled, as hordes of well-dressed people passed by in wool suits, heritage checks and tweeds, brogues or moccasins, and all manner of hats, brooches and patterned silk scarves.
They were participating in the Suit Walk, or Sebiro Sanpo, organized by a Japanese non-profit of the same name, which invites menswear fans across cities in Japan to embark on a walk in their favorite suit. Having held similar events across Tokyo, Osaka and Seoul, Sebiro Sanpo brought the concept to Florence in collaboration with Italian mill Vitale Barberis Canonico (VBC), which supplies fabric to menswear brands including Zegna, Drake’s, Suit Supply and J.Crew. For both parties, the aim was to promote tailoring among Gen Z and young millennial consumers.
Sebiro Sanpo was launched in 2023 by six Japanese menswear industry insiders: Tomohiro inaba (men’s director of department store Isetan), Yusuke Fukushima, Toshihiro Yasutake, Takahiro Miyamoto, Yusuke Tajima and Tomoyoshi Takada. The organization aims to bring together lovers of men’s fashion and tailoring, to promote more elevated dressing to the public, particularly those who have become preoccupied with athleisure, organizers say.
“Our goal is to convey the message that a suit is neither a costume for special occasions nor merely a work uniform. We want people to enjoy it as everyday wear,” says co-founder Yasutake, who handles PR for Sebiro Sanpo, having previously worked in the field for Japanese label Beams. “Rather than formal settings, we intentionally choose locations with a casual, atmospheric feel. By sharing photos on social media we transmit our passion to those who didn’t participate.”
VBC sponsored the event in order to boost brand awareness of its textiles among the public and the menswear brands joining Pitti Uomo. The six founders of Sebiro Sanpo wore VBC fabrics, crafted into suits by local tailors.
“We’d like to make younger people aware of classic elegance and bring them closer to our world,” says Francesco Barberis Canonico, creative director of the mill, which has been in his family for over three centuries. “A lot of the walkers are influencers with strong Instagram followings. So hopefully we will get good social coverage and spread the word,” he continues. “We like to try new things and we like to be adventurous. These days, we can’t buy a page in a newspaper and expect it to be effective.”
The Pitti parade consisted largely of local influencers and fashion professionals, Sebiro Sanpo regulars from across the world, and international visitors to the menswear fair. London-based fashion creator Britt Bones, known for her OOTD content, is a videographer and former archaeologist with over 100,000 followers on Instagram. She joined the Suit Walk upon an invitation from a friend she’d met in Osaka. “I’m sure the Italians find it a bit annoying, but I love it,” Bones said during the walk, sporting a gray suit and tie, a thick oatmeal wool coat, and a beige felt fedora.
Dutch founder of accessories brand Amidé Hadelin and menswear influencer Amidé Stevens joined the walk after being invited by a couple of friends. “I’m the owner of a menswear brand, and I do a whole range of items like knitwear, but also jackets and trousers and complete suits. So that s why I’m here,” he says. “My suit is all my own brand.”
Other participants had traveled from as far as Bangkok, Taiwan and Tokyo, Yasutake says. Louis Chen, a technology executive and part-time DJ, flew from Taiwan to attend the Suit Walk. He has 21,000 followers on Instagram. His walk look featured a gray three-piece suit, with a navy checked overcoat, accessorized with a houndstooth scarf, a floral scarf and a blue and red striped bow tie. Tuesday marked his third Suit Walk, having previously attended two of the events in Japan. “I’ve flown from Taiwan three times to Sebiro Sanpo. I know the organizers very well and I’m pretty much tied into the menswear industry in Japan [now],” he says. “I am so happy [Sebiro Sanpo] is now at Pitti. I cannot believe how many people are involved. I think the number of people involved today is more than what they have in Japan. So it s wonderful… I’m really touched.”
VBC is focused on scaling its Japanese business right now, which is how Barberis Canonico and his team became aware of Sebiro Sanpo. The mill’s Japanese ambassador Yoshimi Hasegawa introduced the two organizations. In addition to the Pitti Uomo Suit Walk, VBC also sponsored Sebiro Sanpo’s 6th Suit Walk in Osaka last year, to boost awareness of its textiles in Japan.
While public attention is the main goal of the Suit Walk, to promote tailoring to the masses, Vitale Barberis Canonico also wants to attract the attention of the 750 brands exhibiting at Pitti Uomo, as potential clients. The manufacturer has activated at Pitti before, via a rock ‘n’ roll event at tailor shop Liverano. During this edition, it hosted a cocktail party in the same venue after the walk.
“Obviously, we are more business-to-business, we don’t own stores or sell suits. We’re an ingredient brand,” Barberis Canonico says. “We want people to be aware of our fabrics and our history. Whether it’s for their first job interview, their first wedding, or they just want to buy their first suit, we are there to cater for [the next generation]. These days, they can find our fabrics on the internet and hopefully they will choose us. We’re hoping they will get bored of tracksuits and sneakers.”
This isn’t the first time Sebiro Sanpo has worked with a brand. The non-profit was provided with outreach support and a venue by Mitsubishi Estate on its fifth event in Japanese city Marunouchi. It also collaborated with Barbour on a Tokyo event last year. The brand provided wax jackets for the six founders to layer over their suits.
Though sponsorship is helpful for scaling the concept in new cities, Sebiro Sanpo aims to be brand neutral where possible. That’s why it felt right to partner with a mill rather than a brand at Pitti, allowing the suits for participants to remain “brand neutral” and “ensuring that lovers of any suit brand can participate equally”. The next Sebiro Sanpo event is planned to take place within Japan, Yasutake says. “While future walks are currently undecided, we have seen increasing global interest, with participants traveling from Taiwan, Thailand and Korea to join our recent events in Japan,” he adds.
As for the Florence event, content has already been flooding the feed, from public onlookers and influencers alike. “Unlike static mannequins or catalogs, seeing people actually wearing the suits and walking through the streets communicates the texture of the fabric and the beauty of tailoring in a ‘living’ form,” Yasutake continues. “Walking through public spaces allows the general public to see [this type of] dressing firsthand, helping to redefine it as something approachable and relevant.”
