GRIP Launches “HIKE ITALIA” Project with Karhu at Pitti Uomo 2025

GRIP HIKE ITALIA / Supported by Karhu

Walking is a matter of style. GRIP brings hiking to Italy’s cities — with the support of Karhu.

What happens when a contemporary hike club meets a historic European sportswear icon?
The result is GRIP HIKE ITALIA / Supported by Karhu — a project that travels across Italy at a slow pace, bringing the spirit of hiking into the urban landscape.

The aim? To rediscover landscapes, stories, and local communities through outdoor events that blend nature, conviviality, and a sense of belonging.

From March to October, GRIP HIKE ITALIA will stop in several provincial capitals with a simple and authentic format: guided hikes in semi-urban areas, moments of gathering with local food and drinks, storytelling rooted in the territory, and small surprises for participants.

“We designed this project for those who want to move with style, without chasing performance. Hiking becomes an opportunity to slow down, observe, and build real connections.”
– Edoardo Repetti, GRIP Hike Club

“GRIP HIKE ITALIA perfectly reflects Karhu’s values: authenticity, movement, and sports culture. We’re excited to walk this path together.”
– Enrico Arese, Karhu Italia

Where and When

Each stop will welcome 30 to 50 participants for a half-day experience in natural or semi-urban locations: hillside parks, city trails, and scenic spots just outside the city center.

The tour will include some of the most exciting names in Italy’s outdoor and fashion scene — including Turin, Milan, Cuneo, Piacenza, Bari, Naples, Rome, Biella, and Taranto — through collaborations with select stores that merge lifestyle and outdoor culture.

Everything is designed to be accessible, curated in every detail — from the naturalistic journey to the locally sourced catering.

Official Launch: Florence, June 17, 2025

To mark the launch of GRIP HIKE ITALIA, GRIP and Karhu will host a sunset hike through the hills of Settignano during Pitti Uomo, in collaboration with creative collective Casa Z-A and Switch Shop, a multi-brand store from the heart of Florence.
A community of hikers, press, and insiders will walk into the golden hour together.

Born in the city, built for the wild.

The GRIP HIKE ITALIA booth design draws from the streets — inspired by the construction fences found everywhere in Italy, from downtown alleys to remote hiking trails.

The netting is not just background — it's the core of the installation. Reinterpreted as a visual membrane and narrative filter, it becomes a symbol of transition and layering.

Color becomes a code: three perforated tissue paper shades, suspended with metal hooks, create a play of transparencies working with light, tone, and motion. The effect recalls the grain of a decomposed image — vivid, airy, direct.

The layout is built for multi-level perception: frontal as an image, side-on as a skeletal structure to display the GRIP HIKE ITALIA drop with minimalist precision.

The setup is intentionally essential, but rich in design details — halfway between urban installation and temporary architecture, where color becomes visual performance.

Every design choice aims for the essential: portable, dismantlable, and reusable — just like GRIP’s global-local mindset.

This display is a piece of street brought into the spotlight — between city and nature, between design and attitude.

An Open Project

GRIP HIKE ITALIA is more than a series of events: it’s a moving network, a new way of experiencing local territory with lightness and awareness.

It’s open to those who share this vision: shops, local brands, creative collectives, cultural and sports initiatives.

📍 www.griphikeclub.com/hikeitalia
📩 press@griphikeclub.com
📷 @griphikeclub

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