BEAUTY: Clothing--Simone Rocha at Pitti Uomo

This year's guest designer at Pitti Uomo (the twice-yearly international fashion trade show in Italy) was Simone Rocha who showed her first exclusive menswear collection...even though she has been showing menswear sprinkled into her womenswear shows for about four seasons now. So this was a wonderful opportunity for Rocha who said, "To be able to bring my vocabulary, distill it down, and refocus it in this way has been a very exciting process, and the whole experience here at Pitti has been fabulous. I’m very grateful to Pitti for having me as their guest designer."

She used Florence, the city of Pitti Uomo, as a springboard for inspiration and studied the classic 1985 Merchant and Ivory film "A Room With A View" based on E.M. Forster's novel of the same name. Soaking up the costume design of the film which takes place in the early 1900s, Rocha said, "This is my Irish man [referencing one of the characters in the book and film] and he’s arrived in Florence and become the main character." This Spring-Summer '27 collection was shown in the performance space of the Teatro della Pergola, a 17th-century opera house, and she used one of the floral prints she found in antique trunks in the theatre on ties and embroidery on garments. Indeed, Rocha was able to employ her now-standard vocabulary of lace, ruffles, bows, pleats, and the pearls and rhinestones of costume jewelry in a nice hybrid of classic UK menswear, with a curious--and cool--addition of work aprons in leather, and spiked shoes! I love this collection for the way it pushes boundaries but also, strangely, exists simultaneously within them...

https://simonerocha.com

The Peacocks of Pitti Uomo, June 2026

Pitti Uomo, the twice-a-year international clothing trade show in Florence wrapped up today and the buyers, fashion journalists, and industry figures who attend are often as interestingly dressed (sometimes more so) as the clothing inside the Fortezza da Basso. The courtyard outside provides a perfect spot for watching these peacocks come and go... seeing as this is the summer edition, street style outfits were lighter, looser, and much more casual, but many of these men are Italian (some of the best dressed men in the world), so the classic suit still reigns. And say hi and congratulations to the newly minted Doctor Bruce Pask in image 18!

All images below by Acielle | Style du Monde for Vogue

All images below by Jonathan Daniel Pryce for WWD

It's That Time Again ... June 2026

Regular readers know that twice a year, I blog about all the fascinating, beautiful, mesmerizing, strange, puzzling, outrageous, outstanding, unusual, artistic, inspiring sartorial creations coming out of the exquisite imaginations of designers, and down the runway. Regular readers may have also gleaned that I follow fashion the way some people delve into the art world. I think of "fashion" as "costume" or "performance"--as a way to convey an idea or a concept. I appreciate what some designers do the same way one appreciates what an avant garde sculptor or painter or performance artist does. And in a way, these designers are performance artists. For me, it is not about what is hanging on racks in stores, but what these artists are creating and the ideas and concepts they are working with as an influence on their marvelous creativity. It is moving sculpture. It is theater. Fashion and clothing at this level serve as a kind of visual shorthand. A piece of clothing in the hands of a designer can evoke a place, a region, a country, a specific time or an entire era, a work of art such as a novel or film or painting, a class of people, even a social, financial, or spiritual element... and the combination of such pieces of clothing, as well as their harmony or contrast, can tell a fascinating story.

Here is the season schedule (London is quite late this year)...

JUNE 2026 FASHION SCHEDULE -- FOR SPRING/SUMMER 2027

Pitti Uomo -- Simone Rocha is this year's guest designer
June 16 - 19, 2026
https://uomo.pittimmagine.com/

Milano Moda Uomo
June 19 - 23, 2026
https://www.cameramoda.it/it/milano-moda-uomo/

Paris Fashion Week Homme
June 23 - 28, 2026
https://www.fhcm.paris/

London Fashion Week
September 17 - 21, 2026
https://londonfashionweek.co.uk/

The Peacocks of Pitti Uomo, January 2026

Pitti Uomo, the twice-a-year international clothing trade show in Florence wrapped up today and the buyers, fashion journalists, and industry figures who attend are often as interestingly dressed (sometimes more so) as the clothing inside the Fortezza da Basso. The courtyard outside provides a perfect spot for watching these peacocks come and go...and this year we see that classic Italian suiting never goes out of style (along with a healthy does of eccentric accessories), but a rather dapper, Film Noir 1940s look appeared, complete with fedoras and neck ties sporting beautiful 40's patterns. I love the style from that period so it is a welcome sight, an antidote to the silly cowboy look and American military wear that seems to stubbornly hang on amongst some of these fashion devotees.

All images below from Acielle | Style du Monde for Vogue

All images below from the official Pitti Uomo site

All images below from Kuba Dabrowski for WWD