Julian Piket Finds Confidence Through Menswear at Pitti Uomo

Julian Piket is a model, content creator, and entrepreneur who was born in Amsterdam. Just one year ago, he moved to New York but has continued to attend Pitti Immagine Uomo, a fashion trade show held biannually in Florence, Italy.

This January saw the 107th Pitti, and Julian wore some of our favorite Barberis wool ties, made by hand directly from the Vitale Barberis Mill in Italy. He sat down with us to discuss his passion for fashion and his time at the world’s hub for men’s fashion.

The Tie Bar: Thank you so much for meeting with us. Could you introduce yourself, who you are and what you do?

Julian Piket: My name is Julian. I moved to New York from Amsterdam one year ago, after Pitti Uomo last year, and I work full time as a content creator and entrepreneur, actually.

TTB: So how long have you been a content creator, full time?

JP: So, after my studies, I have a bachelor’s degree in commercial economics. I started full time modeling, mostly in Germany, but all around Europe. I also did modeling in Cape Town, it went really well and next to the modeling, I always kept an eye on my Instagram and at a certain point, I built a following and around COVID, I would say, I made a full transition to full-time content creation because it’s more specific within the niche and classic menswear is really my thing.

TTB: How did you first get into the menswear, fashion space?

JP: Well, I was always passionate about menswear. I noticed that 90% of my modeling bookings were classic menswear-related, like suit brands, shirt brands, mostly formal wear, alcohol or gentleman’s style.

That made the passion bigger. I met some incredible people, I got a lot of insights and from there it all started actually.

TTB: This is maybe like a bigger question, but why is fashion important to you?

JP: Well, I especially noticed that during my first jobs as a model that at a certain point I was wearing suits made of high quality and they fit me really well, and I thought, “Oh, wow, this gives me a feeling that you cannot explain, it’s from the inside.” It gave me a certain confidence.

A lot of people think you have to dress up for someone else, but I really thought this really brings me on a higher level, and it really makes me happy and confident and it helps me with everything that I do in life.

I’m not saying that everybody should wear formal wear or classic menswear. Everybody should find out what their own style is and what gives you that feeling of confidence and happiness, right? For everyone that’s personal. People should try and feel, and that’s the thing the message that I’m trying to send us.

TTB: Would you say there’s a big difference in fashion in New York versus Europe?

JP: Yes, there is, but also within Europe there’s a lot of a big difference.

In Italy it’s still very classic, mostly focused about personal style, so you see a lot of variety. They know a lot about fabrics and they really care about craftsmanship. Of course, everybody has a different budget, but they care less about price but more, “Where’s it made? How long did it take to make? What is the fabric? Is it worth the price?”

They care about the craftsmanship, they care about handmade and that’s something I really admire, and that’s why I like to go to Pitti Uomo so many times.

TTB: So, how many times have you been to Pitti Uomo?

I think this was my seventh or eighth time. I go every six months, and I meet more and more people every time, and I think I know most of the people there, and it feels like coming home actually. I know the whole city without Google Maps and it’s nice.

TTB: What is your favorite part of Pitti?

What I really like is that it’s a private event. You have to work within the industry, otherwise you cannot really come inside. It’s very difficult. So there are a lot of passionate people, everyone has the same interest and everyone is very open to meet other people and it’s a very friendly environment.

It’s nice for content creators like me. You know a lot of people online, but you finally meet them in person and see how they are really. I mean, everybody has a filter but what is the person behind that filter? What is the person behind the camera? And that’s nice.

TTB: Yeah! We just went to Chicago Collective this weekend, and everyone was just super nice and willing to talk about where they’re from or what they’re doing here.

JP: Maybe Chicago Collective is the same, but from Pitti, it’s people from all over the world, right? I mean, people from India, from Africa, from the US, from Europe. Especially when I talk to tailors who know so much more about fabrics than I do, everybody has his own style or their personal favorite because their fabric is in their country, because of their climate, but also because they are creating it.

But it’s really nice. I love the culture, everybody has a different way of talking and behaving, and it’s fun. You can learn from each other. I hope you can experience one, as well.