June 19, 2026 |
And we’re off! The menswear SS27 shows are here. We’ve got our finest fashions packed and our factor 50 at the ready for a sizzling season. Before all that though, we’ve been in Florence for Pitti Uomo. This time around, the menswear trade show featured guest designers Kei Ninomiya – who presented his first catwalk for his new in-house line for Dover Street Market – and Simone Rocha, who delivered an excellent first standalone menswear collection. Here’s what we’ve been up to over the last three days.
DINING WITH BRUNELLO
It’s not every day you get to have dinner in the courtyard of a church. Brunello Cucinelli welcomed another Pitti Uomo with a beautiful dinner at Chiostri Di Santa Maria Novella. Great guests (hi Paul Anthony Kelly!). Great food (nothing beats Brunello’s signature paccheri). And great clothes (more on those in a sec).
BRUNELLO KNITWEAR
Over at the fair, we began our Wednesday back with Brunello Cucinelli looking at the brand’s SS27 offering. A highlight were these cable knits that looked faded, as if they’d been sun-kissed. Mwah!
Brunello Cucinelli menswear SS27
FAIR HIGHLIGHTS
Our other pit-stops included Guess Jeans, where the brand set up a beach shack-style pop to house its summer collection. We also had a nosy at the suave new suits at Caruso, as well as stopping at Carl Friedrik to check out the luxury luggage brand’s new aluminium suitcases.
JiyongKim GETS FADED
As one of Pitti’s special guests this season, designer JiyongKim staged an exhibition titled The Redefinition of Fadedness. Alongside showing pieces from his mainline collection, the designer showed his sun-bleach technique – where he uses the natural elements to transform his garments. He proposed 34 coats, each of which was exposed to sunlight over 2-3 days, allowing the gradual changes in appearance and colour.
JiyongKim menswear SS27
GUCCI LUNCH MOMENT
No trip to Florence is complete without a trip to the newly re-opened Palazzo Gucci. First opening in 2011 as a Gucci museum, the cultural foundation of the house has undergone a series of reiterations, now curated by Demna. We had lunch at the building’s Gucci Osteria restaurant which is led by three-Michelin-star chef Massimo Bottura. We’re still thinking about that tortellini….
SUNFLOWER AT GOLDEN HOUR
Decanting from Copenhagen, menswear label Sunflower took to a rooftop to showcase its SS27 collection. The brand is all about no-fuss, great clothes, which here included denim twinsets, bomber jackets and slouched suiting.
Sunflower menswear SS27
A GUCCI TALE
Wednesday evening we headed back to Palazzo Gucci to check out Gucci Storia, Demna’s new exhibition merging the house’s past with the now. The best bits included sexy blouses from the Tom Ford-era and a series of Renaissance-style tapestries that the designer first commissioned for Salone back in April.
DSM GOES PUNK
For the first show from DSM Kei Ninomiya – Dover Street Market’s new in-house brand designer by Kei Ninomiya – the designer proposed tartan skirts, bulky leathers and holey mohair jumpers. The highlight of the show was the amazing hair by Pablo Kuemin. Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair.
DSM Kei Ninomiya menswear SS27
WILLIAM PALMER HAS THE LONDON LOOK
William Palmer rode a big red bus all the way from London to Pitti! The CSM-alum and 10 Magazine contributor presents Brief Exposure, a collection inspired by different characters you see at the bus stop, remixing corporate attire into something a lot more risqué.
William Palmer menswear SS27
SIMONE TAKES FLORENCE
Closing things out was Simone Rocha, who unveiled her first standalone menswear collection. Taking place inside, Teatro della Pergola, one of Italy’s oldest opera houses, Rocha dubbed the collection a “character study”, where its protagonist had journeyed from Rocha’s native Ireland and arrived in Florence.
Top image: photography courtesy of
Simone Rocha menswear SS27
