by Claudio Fantuzzi – journalist

“It’s Pitti, Sir, we’ve been booked since months”.

“Palazzo Pitti? Some important art exhibition going on in there?”

“No Sir, Pitti Immagine, the famous fashion fairs, not Palazzo Pitti.

Sorry. Thank you for calling”.

Tough work than ever for hotels in these days. Obviously though, when the fashion people flow in town two times a year from all over the world for this kermesse, and that sometimes late incomers may happen to get a bed just in the outskirts.

Sold out, hurried and eccentric days in Florence – hard catching a cab, or seat in ‘that’ famous trattoria, and always late for ‘that’ loved boutique, or in making the David before the closing time.

Fashion (and business) inside the Fortezza da Basso… a spettacolo  just outside, when “modaioli”, the fashioneers, in a colourful, creative, fascinating informal street passerella mix-up with tourists, among monuments, palazzo, statues, squares, stairways, cloisters and fantastic belvedere, putting themselves sort of human pot-pourry on show at any corner, chiasso, vicolo, piazza,via.

People that sometimes astonishing even for the florentines – generally impassive toward everything it may come to their way -, I tried to frame-up in these my few notes and snapshots, just to give a little taste of what, more or less, keeps running under the Florence’ skies every day that God sends to us.