ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Design Takes Center Stage at Pitti Uomo with New The Sign Section

festival-fair · 2026-04-27

At Pitti Uomo 103 in Florence, the men's fashion fair introduced The Sign, a 400-square-meter design area conceived by Milan-based Ghost Studio. Located in the Superstyling pavilion at Fortezza da Basso, the section aimed to bridge fashion and design. Three standout projects were highlighted: Situér Milano, founded by Federica Paoli and Biagio Castellani, which patented an innovative metal bending technique reducing CO2 emissions by 20%; Slide, led by Giò Colonna Romano, which showcased recycled plastic furniture including the new micro and macro versions of Aki Kuroda's Bunny sculptures; and BIDONEdesign, founded by Fabio Caramel, which transforms industrial paint cans into furniture and has recovered over 15,000 kilograms of steel packaging in 2022. The fair took place January 10-13, 2023.

Key facts

  • Pitti Uomo 103 ran January 10-13, 2023 in Florence.
  • The Sign design section was created by Ghost Studio.
  • Situér Milano patented a metal bending technique reducing CO2 emissions by 20%.
  • Slide presented new versions of Aki Kuroda's Bunny sculptures.
  • BIDONEdesign recovered over 15,000 kg of steel packaging in 2022.
  • The Sign area was 400 square meters in the Superstyling pavilion.
  • Slide uses 100% recyclable polyethylene and Geco plastic from Tetrapak.
  • BIDONEdesign uses water-based paints that release only water vapor.

Entities

Artists

  • Federica Paoli
  • Biagio Castellani
  • Giò Colonna Romano
  • Aki Kuroda
  • Paola Navone
  • Alessandro Mendini
  • Stefano Giovannoni
  • Marcel Wanders
  • Karim Rashid
  • Marc Sadler
  • Marcantonio
  • Lorenzo Guzzini
  • Fabio Caramel
  • Matteo Zara

Institutions

  • Pitti Uomo
  • Ghost Studio
  • Situér Milano
  • Slide
  • BIDONEdesign
  • Uguale
  • Yoyo Maeght
  • Artribune
  • Central Saint Martins
  • IED Roma

Locations

  • Florence
  • Italy
  • Fortezza da Basso
  • Milan
  • London

Sources