Over the years, Pitti Uomo has established itself as an important platform. Aspiring and sometimes established designers use them to set important milestones, present a conceptual realignment or open a completely new chapter. For some, the prestigious “Guest Designer” spot is an opportunity to present in Italy for the first time. For others, it’s a sign of new scale or simply a chance to reach a more global audience.
Since the Florentine fair is dedicated to men’s fashion and tailoring, many use the event to establish themselves or even expand in this category. In 1990, Vivienne Westwood staged her first men’s fashion show at Villa Gamberaia. She was followed by Valentino in 2012, Virgil Abloh for Off-White in 2017 and Marine Serre in 2024. They all also presented their first pure men’s fashion collections.
Now the baton has been passed on to Simone Rocha. She takes on the position of guest designer at Pitti Uomo 110, which takes place from June 16th to 19th. Similar to her predecessors, she will show her first purely men’s collection there. In fact, the Irish-born, London-based designer’s choice comes at a crucial time for men’s fashion as a whole. The category has undergone an evolution in recent years. The style changed from loud and hype-driven to a curated and quietly expressive look. Some trend watchers have dubbed this period the ‘post-streetwear’ era. Men’s fashion now sits at the intersection of relaxed tailoring and a reimagined preppy style.
The Rocha brand and its translation into men’s fashion
Bringing Rocha into the spotlight at this time appears to be a direct response to this shift in the men’s fashion market and is intended to bring it out of a relatively cautious phase. Her eponymous brand has a distinctive identity rooted in challenging the often rigid, preconceived notions of gender. According to Francesca Tacconi, special events coordinator at Pitti Immagine, the brand’s character is somewhere between gothic and cult sportswear.
“Simone Rocha doesn’t follow trends, she creates them and draws us into her world,” Tacconi explained when announcing Rocha as this year’s guest designer. “Her looks are created in a completely overarching logic, always unmistakable, disobedient to the rules of combinations and registers, of epoch and gender differences, of proportions and decor.”
For Rocha, the presentation at Pitti Uomo confirms a departure from a label that was once exclusively dedicated to women’s fashion. The designer ventured into men’s fashion for the first time in 2021 as part of a collaboration with H&M. She then officially incorporated a handful of pieces into her Spring/Summer 2023 collection and presented the looks during a show at London Fashion Week, where she is a regular.
During this major transformation, however, Rocha has been conscious of maintaining the distinctiveness and personality that have become so essential to her brand. The collection for spring/summer 2023 and the following was characterized by a fusion of masculine and feminine. Military-looking khakis met delicate floral embroidery, deconstructed corsets crossed gender boundaries and voluminous layers exaggerated shapes and silhouettes. These fit seamlessly into existing women’s fashion and continued the blurring of gender boundaries.
From student to critically acclaimed designer
Pitti Uomo is just another step on an already busy ladder of success for Rocha, but much of her recognition has so far been limited to the UK and Ireland. Participation in the Florentine fair may indicate an increased global ambition for the designer, as she follows in the footsteps of internationally renowned names such as Raf Simons, Grace Wales Bonner and Jonathan Anderson.
Rocha’s own career is similar to that of her predecessors. The designer attended the National College of Art and Design in Dublin and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in fashion. She then went to Central Saint Martins, where she completed the renowned master’s degree in fashion in 2010. She then made her debut at London Fashion Week, where she has been a fixture at the event ever since.
Her work has since received notable awards. At the British Fashion Council Fashion Awards, Rocha was awarded the ‘Emerging Talent RTW 2013’, ‘British Womenswear Designer Award 2016’, ‘Independent British Brand 2021’ and ‘British Womenswear Designer Award 2024’ awards. In 2016 she received the Harper’s Bazaar Designer of the Year Award.
Rocha is also successful commercially. The designer runs four seasonal, standalone stores in London, New York and Taiwan. Each houses a mix of fashion, art and furniture, as well as collaboration products. The brand is also available in shop-in-shops at Dover Street Market Worldwide as well as department stores such as Selfridges, Bergdorf Goodman and Nordstrom.
A highlight of Rocha’s career came in early 2024 when she took on the temporary role of guest designer for Jean Paul Gaultier. Only a handful of up-and-coming talents have held this position. The opportunity took Rocha to Paris for a season to present at Haute Couture Week. There, she fused the recognizable characteristics of both houses into a collection that made Gaultier himself smile throughout the show.
The Rocha ethos
As a mother of two, Rocha’s brand and her perception of femininity, womanhood and now masculinity have evolved. They have grown and changed along with their personal lives. However, her ethos remains rooted in the modernization of these facets and the close connection she has to the authentic representation of this concept.
Speaking to Elle last year, Rocha said: “When you’re a woman designing clothes for women, you feel a sensitivity to the garments themselves. There’s a deeper understanding of what that clothing can make you feel or help portray, whether it’s security because it’s like a uniform, or maybe it’s provocative and flirty.”
Also last year, Rocha celebrated its 15th business anniversary. This milestone was celebrated in collections that explored the brand’s hallmarks and then doubled down on them in a “foray into the extreme,” as she told British Vogue. This was followed by a Fall/Winter 2026 collection rooted in Irish mythology that reflected storytelling and realism in looks reminiscent of bedtime stories. A collaboration with Adidas was at the heart of the collection. Ball gowns, corsets and tailoring contrasted with the iconic three stripes, which were adapted to retain her authentic signature, Rocha told Vogue.
What to expect at Pitti
With Rocha’s last collection taking her down a slightly different path into subtle sportswear that also sat alongside rugged looks that were markedly different from the softer, pastel-colored collections of the past, it’s hard to predict where she’ll go for her Pitti show. In making the announcement, Rocha called the participation a “new chapter in my work and world,” adding that she approaches it with “authenticity and vulnerability, seriousness and playfulness.”
As noted, her choice further deviates from a menswear market that has been somewhat cautious. That means she could lean into her bolder take on the category and channel her signature juxtaposition of delicacy and volume. All in all, Rocha is expected to stay true to her vision: “a reflection on intimacy that comes from personal roots and connections” and is exhibited in a “sensory journey intended to be carried beyond time,” added Pitti’s Francesca Tacconi.
Rocha presents her collection on Thursday June 18th at 5pm at the Teatro della Pergola theater in Florence.
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