The brainchild of Giacomo Gallina, a fashion and footwear designer with nearly twenty years’ experience in the luxury sector, the launch of the Monk (bare) Foot project sees the brand introduce a lightweight, high-quality shoe, designed to revolutionise the concept of walking in line with the philosophy of emptiness and meditation in motion.

The brand name encapsulates its very essence: ‘Monk’ evokes the figure of the monk, whilst the concept of ‘Mu’ – the answer to an ancient Japanese koan meaning ‘nothing’ or ‘emptiness’ – manifests as a creative force, the true origin of every generative process.

The Monk (bare) Foot project translates this philosophy into a physical experience that simulates walking barefoot, an ancient Zen meditation practice. To recreate the sensation of natural contact with the ground, the shoe features the Vibram FF Cup sole: an ultra-thin shell, just a few millimetres thick, made of ‘zero-drop’ rubber (with no height difference between heel and toe). The extraordinary flexibility of this component is combined with the excellence of Italian craftsmanship. The upper, made from genuine full-grain leather, is stitched directly to the rubber sole, whilst the insole is made from genuine leather. Production is entirely entrusted to a small artisanal shoe factory in the Veneto region, a guardian of the ‘Made in Italy’ tradition.

Founded in 1973 in Montebelluna, at the heart of the Veneto footwear district, the brand is now one of Italy’s most recognised names on the international sporting scene. At the latest edition of Pitti Uomo, it unveiled its new SS27 collection, featuring a range that blends sporting heritage, material innovation and contemporary sensibility. Among the standout models is the Losanga ’76 PRT, a tribute to one of the most iconic chapters in Italian sporting history: Italy’s victory in the 1976 Davis Cup. The model takes its name from Lotto’s signature maxi diamond, an oversized graphic element that dominates the upper, and is crafted from beige velour that extends seamlessly to the toe and back tab. The trainer strikes a sophisticated balance between sporting heritage and urban influences, thanks to its vintage, distressed finish and distinctive graphic details: the ideograms on the sole, the contrasting Japanese characters on the heel, and the ‘Losanga ’76’ branding on the tongue and back tab all reinforce the model’s urban appeal.

Ever since its inception, Kapten & Son has been committed to turning every moment into a meaningful experience, offering innovative, functional products with eye-catching designs. The brand’s extensive collection ranges from sunglasses to travel gear, right through to a versatile range of bags and rucksacks. It is these rucksacks in particular that perfectly blend style and practicality: available in various sizes (from 4 to 26 litres), they are ideal for work, university, sport and leisure. Made from high-quality materials and available in a wide range of modern styles and colours, Kapten & Son rucksacks offer all the space you need to organise your everyday essentials – such as laptops, documents and water bottles – in the best possible way.

Raw canvas, textured inserts and premium leathers coexist in a quest for balance where imperfection becomes a design detail and contrast takes on aesthetic value. Offering a preview of the season’s vision is RETRÒ, a new release presented exclusively at Pitti: a sneaker that encapsulates the collection’s minimalist approach and embodies the concept of ‘quiet luxury’. Crafted from nappa leather and suede, completely unlined and free of internal reinforcements, it offers extreme lightness and comfort, emphasising the sensation of a shoe that naturally accompanies the body’s movement. The design draws on archival sportswear imagery reimagined with a contemporary twist: the round cotton lace, the technical eyelet on the first hole and the honey-coloured rubber sole define a clean, versatile and authentic aesthetic. On the side of the upper, there is also a new interpretation of the distinctive D.A.T.E. logo: four small squares representing the brand’s four founders and embodying its original DNA..

The Italian sportswear brand, born from an exclusive agreement between the Italian Air Force General Staff and Cristiano di Thiene S.p.A. – which for over twenty years has been translating the history and values of the Armed Forces into clothing – presents a men’s collection for next summer that reinterprets the brand’s roots to project them into the wardrobe of tomorrow. The narrative of the SS27 season is structured around three distinct themes, which blend together in a play of layers and layering.

Urban interprets a concept of contemporary classicism designed for those seeking understated elegance and shunning ostentation. Iconic, timeless pieces such as cotton chinos or jersey polo shirts offer sophisticated versatility that flows naturally throughout the day.

Military embodies the brand’s deepest essence, where functional inspiration translates into form and character. Field jackets, bomber jackets and military-style overshirts evolve into clean, contemporary silhouettes, blending a glorious history with maximum practicality.

Heritage brings the story to a close with the power of its iconic details and distinctive features. The embroidery stands out as a defining element, evoking craftsmanship, authenticity and a sense of belonging, making each piece unique and instantly recognisable.

Unveiled at Pitti Uomo 110, the collaboration stems from the convergence of the tanneries’ manufacturing heritage and the creative vision of a designer who has helped define the aesthetic language of some of the world’s leading international luxury brands. He(ART) places the material, the culture of craftsmanship and the value of Italian artisanal tradition at the heart of the collection. This limited-edition collection interprets sole leather not merely as a technical component of footwear, but as an identifying feature – a symbol of quality, durability and timeless beauty. Among the models, the unisex Softy moccasin stands out, characterised by a particularly flexible construction and hand-crafted details. For Cuoio di Toscana, the project forms part of an initiative aimed at promoting the region’s manufacturing heritage through collaborations that amplify its cultural and international significance.

Every year, Benefit companies devote a great deal of energy and investment to producing their Impact Report: an official document that outlines the activities carried out, the objectives achieved and the value generated for people, society and the environment. However, very few people actually read it. It remains a document confined to a small circle of industry professionals, consultants and internal stakeholders. The WRÅD brand sought to address this very contradiction: if sustainability aims to change the world, why does it continue to be communicated through formats that people avoid? It therefore set itself a concrete challenge: to transform this reporting into content capable of capturing the public’s interest.

This is how ‘Real-World Puzzles’ came about – a publishing project that transforms WRÅD’s 2025 Impact Report into a book of games and puzzles designed to entertain, connect and stimulate dialogue. So, if impact reporting can become something to take with you under your beach umbrella, then perhaps it is not just the format of the report that changes, but also the role these tools can play in making change more accessible, understandable and widely embraced.

‘Puzzles for the Real World’ uses the most iconic puzzle formats – crosswords, rebuses, anagrams, quizzes, brain teasers and trivia – to raise awareness of responsible design and to showcase the projects, research and cultural references that have characterised WRÅD’s work throughout 2025 and beyond. The themes range from design to fashion, from health to responsibility, from history to systemic transformation, inviting the reader to participate actively. WRÅD chooses play as a design tool to transform complex information into shared experiences.

“Companies, including many of our clients, invest enormous amounts of resources in drafting these documents,” says Giorgio Fermanelli, Director of Impact at WRÅD. “But if nobody reads them, what’s the point? This project arose from a real need we identified. Most of the brands we work with told us of their frustration at the limited real impact these reports had.”

The publication was launched and handed out to passers-by on 15 July at the Edicola Erno newsagent’s in Rome. However, this initiative does not replace WRÅD’s standard social report, which remains freely available online on the company’s website, but rather complements it perfectly, presenting the data in an interactive and inclusive format.

In this way, a document typically analysed in the office or during briefings is transformed into a magazine that can be read anywhere, even under a beach umbrella. This choice represents a clear strategy for WRÅD, a design and consultancy firm founded by Matteo Ward in 2015 and which, in 2025, became part of Inside Out (IO), a global holding company dedicated to improving human and planetary health. Operating at the intersection of culture, business and policy, WRÅD helps organisations rethink the role that products and services play in society. Clients who have worked with WRÅD to rethink how they communicate their impact initiatives include EssilorLuxottica, PVH, Ferragamo, Vestiaire Collective and Montura.