June 19, 2026 |
The Simone Rocha man takes centre stage. Since 2023, the Irish designer has been integrating menswear looks into her womenswear shows. Often adorned in similar flourishes – pearls, frills, florals – the two sides to her business live in a harmonious dialogue with one another. But it was time for her lads to flee the nest and go it out alone. For her first catwalk show outside of London, Rocha headed to Florence to unveil her debut standalone menswear offering as part of Pitti Uomo.
Her venue of choice was Teatro della Pergola, one of Italy’s oldest opera houses. Following from her AW26 show, held inside London’s Alexandra Palace theatre, she imagined her men’s muse venturing from her native Ireland, then to London, before landing in Florence. “The minute I walked into the theatre I felt transported to a little universe,” said Rocha of the show location, where models paraded across the stage before venturing through the stalls.
The designer described the collection as a “character study”, touring through men’s wardrobe staples – rugby shirts, bomber jackets, Fair-Isle knits, excellent tailoring – that were each given feminine touches. She called her approach a “tender masculine proposition”: overcoats came with floral buttons; vests were frosted in sequins; jackets bloomed with rose-shaped pockets. The flower power was actually ignited when Rocha first visited the theatre and spotted costume trucks which had floral linings, inspiring motifs that appeared throughout. Elsewhere, “notions of performance” could be seen in a tulle frock worn with a checked suit, or feather bowers that were draped over blazers with a cut-out back.
Rocha was keen to present a menswear collection that drew on different ages – from the innocence of childhood (boyish shirts, gingham shirting) all the way through to adulthood (workers aprons and pinafores, cut from leather or frosted with pearls). Speaking in a preview, the designer said she wants to continue having a presence on the menswear schedule moving forward. While he might’ve once been a supporting role to the brand’s womenswear outings, the Simone Rocha man is ready to be a star all on his own.
Photography courtesy of Simone Rocha.
