Florence at over 30 degrees in June. At the Fortezza da Basso exhibition center, several brands were simultaneously playing loud music for their neighbors. The Pitti Uomo 110 was loud – at least acoustically. The collections themselves appeared calmer. They were more minimalist, cleaner, with a focus on materiality and crafted details. Wide silhouettes, linen suits, red accents and large weekender bags set the fashion signals for spring/summer 2027.
How wide can the pants be?
The collections seemed significantly calmer than in previous seasons. The clothing providers – from streetwear brands to more classic brands – increasingly showed a minimalist and cleaner design. Young brands like the Berlin label Prohibited are focusing more on the preppy look instead of urban streetwear, with the wide legs of the jeans being translated into casual suit trousers. For the first time, the brand also had a trench coat and fleece sweater on board for its sailing-inspired collection.
In formal and business wear, the silhouette also remains wide, even if Digel has reduced the volume somewhat. This was done in order to do justice to the German company’s target group, explains Philippe Celeny. The Managing Director for France was pleased about good footfall on the first two days of the trade fair, but the Digel team had already made almost 650 appointments in advance.
The target group is an issue that the French brand American Vintage is also grappling with, as the vintage-oriented looks are sometimes “too oversized” for their retail partners and potential customers, reports Markus Dambacher, who oversees the menswear wholesale business in Germany – the second strongest market after France – with a showroom in Düsseldorf. However, men’s fashion only accounts for 20 percent of the brand’s volume.
Even Olymp expanded its range for the upcoming order to include pants that were previously only available through direct sales. Also new was the classic ‘Cover Shirt’ shirt, which the German shirt specialist introduced after taking over its direct competitor Eterna. Eterna itself was not represented at the trade fair this time as the brand is currently being realigned.
There was already a lot going on at the Olymp stand on the opening day and the footfall remained strong on the second day. In order to accommodate its partners in upcoming orders, the company will offer them a new sales system in the future, says Dennis Hierl, Head of Sales Western Europe. This includes four modules in two sizes – ten and 20 products – which differ thematically in categories such as business or leisure and are intended to provide new impulses through a special article.
More reserved collections focus on feel and details
When it comes to materials, linen remains an important component for summer, as confirmed by Digel – for example in a suit with Bermuda shorts -, Olymp and Anerkjendt. The Danish brand is currently continuing to grow and is recording an average annual increase of 35 to 40 percent, according to brand manager Jesper Møller Christiansen. The brand is currently particularly well represented in the French market. He cited the presence of a lot of color in the collection as an advantage in distinguishing himself from other Scandinavian brands. You could see a strong yellow, various shades of blue and also a rusty red.
Even though the color palette of the SS27 collections was rather reserved with dominant earth tones, various shades of red appeared again and again as a splash of color. The Danish streetwear brand Woodbird did this with salmon, the German clothing suppliers Seidensticker and Dressler with Bordeaux, the Italian casualwear brand Paul & Shark with a rusty red and Mackintosh with a bright red. The jacket specialist, founded in Scotland, also integrated a shallow green into its collection, while the Italian luxury brand Stefano Ricci presented a jacket in bright green and Premiata presented an olive green workwear vest.
The Italian brand was not alone with such a cargo vest. Prohibited and the US brand Woolrich also offered a casual version for your next fishing trip. In keeping with this, work and outerwear-oriented brands such as Refrigiwear, Universal Overall and Dickies showed their mostly colorful interpretation of the classic camouflage pattern.
Several brands provided the hydration essential in the hot temperatures of over 30 degrees Celsius in Tuscany. These included the own bottle bags at the Korean streetwear brand Ajobyajo and the New York outerwear brand Refrigiwear as well as the picnic vest with space for wine, baguettes and glasses at the Amsterdam lingerie and leisurewear specialist Pockies.
When it comes to accessories, large weekender and shopping bags are an indispensable part of menswear this season. These could be seen at jeans experts Guess, Woolrich and Bugatti, among others. The German clothing retailer integrated it into a collaboration with a beach resort in Forte dei Marmi, Italy, where the collection was celebrated on Wednesday evening – in addition to its presence at the trade fair.
Part of the Bugatti collection was also a casual shirt with a brown and beige tartan pattern and floral embroidery. Overall, casual shirts and polo shirts among menswear brands for SS27 seem to have to have a certain feel. The Danish brand Gabba showed an airy, coarse knit – also with a floral pattern, the Copenhagen streetwear brand showed a crochet pattern with colorful squares and Paul&Shark used a nubby stitch.
Guest designers and special projects attract attention
Meanwhile, fashion accents were set primarily in the program of fashion shows and special projects curated by trade fair organizer Pitti Imagine. The collaborative brand of international fashion retailer Dover Street Market, which stocks experimental contemporary brands such as Rick Owens, Junya Watanabe and Comme des Garçons (CDG), unveiled its first collaboration with Kei Ninomiy. The designer from the CDG universe was inspired by various punk eras, while guest designer Simone Rocha questioned contemporary masculinity with a combination of tailoring, workwear and outerwear. The Korean label JiyongKim also caused enthusiasm, putting the spotlight on natural coloring through sunlight with an exhibition at the exhibition center.
The British designer William Palmer, who founded his eponymous label last year after graduating from London’s Central Saint Martins fashion school, also showed his current collection in Florence as the winner of the I:C Pitti Immagine Awards 2026. The stand was set up like a London bus stop where the mannequins “waited”. In his collection, Palmer explores various British archetypes such as the businessman and interprets them with a contemporary approach with voluminous silhouettes and playful details.
Despite declining visitor numbers: the new trade fair boss draws a positive conclusion
According to initial projections, the current edition of Pitti Uomo welcomed 11,000 buyers on all four days, three percent less than a year ago, the trade fair organizer announced on Thursday. In total there were more than 15,000 visitors from more than 90 countries, including Spain, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Japan, France and China.
New Pitti CEO Ivano Cauli, who was experiencing his first men’s trade fair in this position, recorded strong growth from Germany, the USA, Hong Kong and Canada on the penultimate day of the trade fair, while some traditional European markets as well as far-flung countries such as Australia weakened – presumably due to increased travel costs. He wants to draw a final conclusion after the trade fair closes on Friday. But he is already confident.
“It’s not just about numbers, because the atmosphere these days is really positive right from the start,” Cauli continued. “The main credit goes to the over 740 exhibitors who believed in and invested in the fair, their collections that express high craftsmanship and are always open to experiments that combine contemporary sensibilities with functional elements in the different styles of men’s fashion.”