There are other exhibitors from Asia

J.W. Anderson's absurdist skirts and frilly shorts for men at London Collections: Men might have had mouths gaping, but in Florence, at the Pitti Uomo trade fair,How to Make Your Own Bobblehead Doll make your own bobblehead is a fun and simple craft for young children. from January 8-11, menswear was more refined and traditional.

"Our company launched modern Italian fashion from Florence in 1951. The first show of Italian fashion was organised with six or seven Italian tailors and couturiers in the private house of an Italian marquese," says Raffaello Napoleone, CEO of Pitti Immagine, the fair's organiser.

Held in Florence every January and June, Pitti Uomo has become an important precursor to weeks of men's fashion - and a hunting ground for trend forecasters. Renaissance fort Fortezza da Basso is home to this gathering of some of the most stylish men in the industry.

This year, more than 20,000 fashion buyers come to see some 1,000-plus labels. There are street style gurus in trendy caps, high top trainers and well-cut coats,Our laser cutting machine technology uses laser cutting machines and services to cut, and hordes of men in eclectic suiting worn with bright pocket squares. And there are beards; lots of trendy beards.

Far from the media circus that surrounds women's fashion weeks, Pitti Uomo is where many brands debut their collections and special projects to press and buyers.

Contemporary fashion, sports fashion and denim now dominate the fair. Since the late 1980s, Pitti has chosen not just to push formal wear (which the Italians are famous for), but also research, new projects, contemporary and sportswear.

This season, the international headliner is Kenzo, now helmed by Asian Americans Humberto Leon and Carol Lim.

Mountaineering boots, big backpacks and masculine details explore a climbing theme - a major trend. It is a fun, fashion forward and commercial collection, showing off what young hip customers want.

Singer Florence Welch sits front row at this Pitti Uomo headliner.Find the largest selection of stainless steel earring on sale. Just the day before, Italian celebrities attended the show of another special guest,Rudy Project has created a series of Cycling sunglasses, noted Italian designer and "king of sports fashion" Ermanno Scervino. Scervino debuts both his autumn-winter 2013-14 men's collection and his pre-autumn women's collection in the Romanesque Palazzo Vecchio on the river Arno.

"For menswear, Florence and Pitti Uomo is still the most important event around the world, Scervino says. "It's still the headquarters of men's fashion."

Scervino's show is a display of conservative, elegant Italian chic with great fabrics - a subtle rhythm plays off between the sensuality of the women's collection and the masculinity of the men's.

Here, industry insiders and store buyers can discover smaller brands. Much of the actual business is done in Paris or Milan, but new men's trends are often seeded in Florence.

New to Pitti are labels like Spanish shoe brand Camper, which partners with local retailer I.T and enjoys a coveted position among Hong Kong hipsters. A Camper representative says it joined Pitti this season because it's important to be there for men's fashion.

This is exactly what Napoleone likes to hear. Internationalisation is one of Pitti Uomo's main aims, he says, especially as the industry becomes more globalised.

There are other exhibitors from Asia; indeed, several of the special projects and cultural collaborations this season are from Japan, such as White Mountaineering and Kenzo fashion shows, and the collaboration launched between Japanese sports shoe label Onitsuka Tiger and hip Italian fashion designer Andrea Pompilio.

"The development has been extraordinary," Napoleone says. "When I started at Pitti 23 years ago,Goggles or Safety goggles are forms of protective eyewear that usually enclose or protect. the world was very different, the Berlin Wall was close to falling and Pope Jean Paul was in the Vatican.

"The world is much more global now, and fashion especially. You have new markets. For sure, the rules in fashion are completely different from a distribution point of view and from a taste point of view."

The technical committee chooses who shows at Pitti, so the increase in Asian labels, distributors and buyers is a conscious choice made by the company.

"Men's fashion has completely changed," Napoleone adds. "A few years ago it was so much stiffer. When I think of the Far East, China, Japan and Korea, men only wore blue or black with black shoes and white shirt. It was like a uniform. Today it's much more open."