Dressing men is nothing new for Simone Rocha. The Irish fashion designer has been doing it for nearly half a decade, and she’s racked up a slew of celebrity fans—Bad Bunny, Josh O’Connor, Paul Mescal—in the process. Menswear now represents about 30 percent of her business. But she never held a dedicated men’s fashion show until last week.
At the Teatro della Pergola in Florence, Rocha presented 38 looks from her men’s spring/summer 2027 collection as the latest guest designer for Pitti Uomo. The trade show has a bit of a reputation as the menswear-iest of menswear hubs, with guys strutting about in three-piece suits despite the 35-degree heat in mid-June.
Rocha’s vision of men’s clothing, on the other hand, leans more romantic. Pretty, even. She’s described it in the past as a “tender masculinity,” and one would be hard pressed to find a better way to describe the lacy tops, skirt-like oversized shorts, and boas that made their way down the runway. It’s a little bit schoolboy, a little bit naif—but it’s not all so soft. Leather outerwear and workwear-inspired styles lend a bit of edge to the whole affair.
But even though Pitti has a history of bringing in designers with progressive aesthetics, I can’t help but notice the tension between the guys channeling a very specific sort of masculinity and Simone Rocha’s tender men.
So, why Pitti? Why now?
“I like to poke and tease,” Rocha tells me after the show. “I like to look in the belly of the beast and see what can come out.”
She continues: “I’ve always loved Florence; it’s a city I visited as a child. I love being picked up out of context and put somewhere else. I wanted to look that in the face and see what I could bring to the table in that context but still feel very authentic to myself. The men’s collection has been building and going alongside the women’s, but I’ve taken my time to refine it and define it. I felt once I was ready, it was nice to show it as a full proposition.”
As for what happens next in Simone Rocha’s menswear world, the designer is optimistic without getting overly excited. She used to moving intentionally, and it shows.
“I think it’ll grow incrementally,” she says of the men’s audience. “It’s similar to when people ask, ‘Who’s your muse?’ I really don’t like to pinpoint. I really hope it’s people who find things interesting but not alienating, and there’s just enough to pull you in. And then, when you’re pulled in, you’re excited even more.”
