Simone Rocha has long woven menswear into her collections, but it has always existed within the orbit of her womenswear. That changed on June 18 in Florence, where she presented her first standalone menswear show as guest designer at Pitti Uomo 110.
The Teatro della Pergola provided an appropriately dramatic setting. Rocha’s Spring 2027 men’s collection unfolded with the same emotional precision that defines her womenswear — romantic, layered, and never sentimental.
Coat silhouettes dominated the runway, cut with Rocha’s characteristic volume at the shoulder and a softness through the body. Trousers ballooned and then tapered, while knitwear carried the intricate stitchwork that has become a house signature.
Pearl embellishments appeared on tailored jackets. Sheer fabrics played against heavy wools. Rocha’s men carry bags, wear skirts, and move through categories that the industry is still learning not to police.
Pitti Uomo remains the world’s most important menswear trade fair, but Rocha’s presence there signals something larger: the definition of menswear itself is expanding, and she is helping to redraw its borders.
Rocha joins a lineage of Pitti guest designers that includes Giorgio Armani, Vivienne Westwood, and Grace Wales Bonner. For an Irish-born designer working in London to receive this platform speaks to the breadth of her creative influence.
The collection felt both reverent and unresolved — Rocha is clearly still defining what her man looks like outside the context of her womenswear. But that tension is precisely what made the show compelling.
