FLORENCE – Resort dressing was top of mind for exhibitors at Pitti Uomo this week and the vacation vibe trickled down to , either for boat and seaside life or trailing expeditions to the mountain tops.

“Perhaps it’s a combination of the Florentine heat wave and the afterglow of the latest season of ‘The White Lotus,’ but there is plenty of resort-inspired dressing, from soft tailoring and breezy linen shirts to optic white boat shoes and other nautical-inspired footwear like plimsolls,” said Nordstrom men’s fashion director Jian DeLeon.

“Woven leather loafers and slip-ons had great character, visual appeal and added nice variety to the growing breadth of the casual footwear representation,” echoed Bruce Pask, senior director of men’s fashion at Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.

As the fair wraps up on Friday at Florence’s storied Fortezza da Basso and the men’s fashion crowd heads to Milan for the next stop in the menswear fashion month, here we round up some of the top shoes at Pitti Uomo’s June 2025 trade show.

Pro-Keds

The storied American footwear brand Pro-Keds, rebooted earlier this year by Pro-Keds International, helmed by industry veteran Patrizio Di Marco, the former president and CEO of Gucci and Bottega Veneta, and Jay Schottenstein, CEO of American Eagle Outfitters, took over the cavernous Sala Ottagonale within the Area Monumentale section with an installation to unveil the first full-fledged collection under the new course after the brand dropped a few styles last March. “We are a small company, we’re financially equipped, but we’re making reasonable investments,” Di Marco said in an interview. Joining the menswear trade show was intended as a community-building effort, with a lineup of events throughout the show, including live customization by Mirko “Koro” Baldini and a show cooking by chef Marco Bianchi, among others. “Pro-Keds is all about passion and positivity, the name itself conjures that ethos,” the executive offered. “We sell sneakers, but we want out storytelling to be authentic as the brand has been around for [almost] 80 years and has a lot to say,” he offered. “We have no competitor or many competitors, depending on the point of view,” he said. “At the end of the day, we all compete for people willing to invest in products, experiences, a great dinner. It’s crucial that we find the key to resonate with consumers, because that is ultimately what determines a brand’s success,” he said. The spring collection saw the introduction of the running style Racer 77, an archival design with a mixed media upper combining nylon with suede and leather inserts. Pro-Keds was established in 1949 as a performance footwear label for top athletes and quickly gained recognition in basketball, American football, running and tennis, worn over the years by the likes of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Pete Maravich.

Doucal’s

A sense of escapism ran through the Doucal’s spring collection, which introduced a soft and laid-back new loafer called Norwich, crafted from suede and featuring a squarish toe. The brand has first dodged the casualization trend and now continues to press on with its formal footwear offering, which in 2024 generated revenues of 30 million euros. According to the brand’s CEO Gianni Giannini “amid headwinds, new spaces emerge and buyers are willing to finetune their offering.” He forecasts a single-digit growth in 2025 based on first quarter’s figures. “The company had already defined a five-year business plan and we are committed to that. Having clear goals and projects for a long-term vision allows us to stay resilient amid harsher times,” he said. The U.S. – where it now counts on a local partner and dedicated team – represent a target market, as well as the Middle East where the brand is evaluating retail opportunities.

Superga

The BasicNet-owned Superga hit Pitti Uomo with the first spring collection reflecting the new course, hinged on four pillars, which include rubber shoes; the vulcanized shoe category, which the signature 2750 canvas lace-up turning 100 this year belongs to; sport-leaning footwear, and mountaineering styles. Expanding the 2750 family with more solid colors but pulling the more patterned iterations that had dominated previous collection, the brand is seeking to reinstate “the pure codes of Superga, veering away from the ‘teen look’ and more towards the ‘radical chic’ vibe core to our heritage,” said Marco Tamponi, global brand manager. A book by Rizzoli on the signature model is in the works, he said. Conversely, a batik motif was splashed on the canvas Works sneaker, similar in shape to the 2750 but featuring rubber detailing on the toe. Delving into the archives, the Sport OG retro-running style nodded to the ‘70s and ‘80s.

Stuart Weitzman

Embracing a resort attitude, Stuart Weitzman channeled vacation life reinventing traditional footwear styles for a range of occasions, from Red Carpet – in Cannes rather than Hollywood – with tapered loafers in black or natural raffia to out-of-office days by the sea, with moccasins with a foldable heel and espadrilles constructed as loafers but featuring the distinctive rope trimming. A recurring Arrowhead woven motif was ubiquitous, appearing as a detail on penny loafers and tassel options with the chunky but lightweight New Sport sole. The brand is also debuting a driving shoe collection, under the NYC Driver moniker, landing in store next April.

Manebì

A reflection of resortwear’s global appeal, footwear specialist Manebì has expanded its product offering well beyond shoes, with a ready-to-wear lineup that currently generates 40 percent of sales, said Antonello Benati, who cofounded the brand with Vera Drossopulo Bogdano in 2013. Credited for having fueled the popularity of dressier espadrilles, the brand offered new iterations of its hero item, including striped canvas and colorful raffia versions. For spring, the pair also debuted a new design nodding to summer life, the boat shoe, offered in an unlined and washed version. The latter is also part of the new iteration of Manebì’s collaboration with storied Neapolitan tailoring house Rubinacci and its current head Luca Rubinacci, whom Drossopulo Bogdano characterized as “very passionate about products and a style connoisseur.” The capsule collection includes also espadrilles, traditional Venetian slippers known as friulane, T-shirts and beachwear, the latter a booming category for the brand, Benati said. After last October Manebì’s investor Milano Investment Partners sold its 25 percent stake in the brand to Swiss private equity fund Evoco, the brand has lined up the opening of a second flagship store in Taormina, Italy and is planning a retail push in the Middle East, with stores expected to bow at the Dubai Mall in September and at the Saadiyat Grove Mall in Abu Dhabi in march 2026.

Flower Mountain

At Flowear Mountain, the signature Yamabushi sneakers, a hybrid style combining the urban and hiking ethos, was rendered in new mixed-media iterations combining suede, nylon and ripstop on a rubber and EVA outsole for extra grip and amortization. The brand is marking its 10th anniversary this year and plans a dedicated capsule collection and event during September’s Milan Fashion Week. “Its pricing and distribution strategies have ensured resilience,” said Salina Ferretti, CEO of Falc, the shoe brand’s parent company. “Business is good, but we’re left with a question mark on the U.S. I believe that our product is cool but should tariffs be implement before next season’s sales campaign we need to rethink our approach,” she offered. “I don’t think we’d pull from the market, but there will need to be a different strategy.” 

Ecco

Life in the outdoors also informed the Ecco spring collection, which straddled between a high-tech urban and exploration performance ethos. A range of off-road sandals and mules boasting a three-density outsole for extra stability tapped into the popularity of the mountaineering style, while the city-appropriate Biom family was expanded with the introduction of the 720 model, which combines the Biom technology with the cool cush innovation consisting of holes in the outsole enhancing breathability. Crafted from leather, the model is also available in a premium version featuring the Gore-Tex Surround. “This collection reflects our customers’ demand for stylish footwear with a strong performance and comfort component. Consumers are looking for qualitative premium products boasting a strong backbone of innovation,” said Ecco general manager of South Europe Silvia Capozza. The brand has been making a lifestyle push as of late to cater to a more sophisticated clientele, for example with the opening for the current spring 2025 season of a corner at French department store Printemps. “It’s doing great,” Capozza offered.