The best of Pitti Uomo 108, from guest stars to gelato

Despite temperatures tipping 35 degrees, Florentine menswear fair Pitti Uomo – a twice-yearly showcase around the city’s Fortezza da Basso which took place this week – nonetheless attracted its usual throngs of press, buyers and aficionados who are on the search for what’s new in men’s fashion (true to sartorial form, even in the searing midday heat, blazers remained on).

It is in the converted 16th-century fortress where brands from around the world come to show their latest wares in a series of stands and specially erected pavilions (early estimates have over 730 brands showing at the event, with around 43 per cent coming from outside of Italy). And, even if the scale is initially overwhelming, it gives a rare chance to speak to designers and CEOs in the presence of their clothing. When we recently straw-polled Wallpaper* editors on what they were most looking forward to over fashion month, Milan contributor Scarlett Conlon said she liked the way that menswear month allowed you the breathing room to be able to see the clothing up close – and nowhere is that more true than Pitti Uomo.

Though there is another side of Pitti Uomo: a series of runway shows by the fair’s guest designers which unfold in spaces around the city (or, in the case of Homme Plissé Issey Miyake this season, on its bucolic outskirts). It can often be illuminating to see designers in new contexts, and to unpick their choice of location which – befitting the cradle of the Renaissance – are often steeped in history (previous guest designers have included Raf Simons, Martine Rose and Grace Wales Bonner, as well as labels like Givenchy and Jil Sander).

This season, there were plenty of highlights – from a dramatic dinner party in the baroque gardens of Villa Bardini, to an outing from Homme Plissé Issey Miyake which paid ode to the colours and textures of Italy. Here, selected by Wallpaper* fashion features editor Jack Moss, the best bits of the week.

Homme Plissé Issey Miyake’s ode to Italy

Earlier this year it was announced that Homme Plissé Issey Miyake would pause showing in Paris, shifting to a nomadic schedule which will see the Japanese label – part of the Miyake Design Studio roster – show in locations around the world. A guest spot at Pitti Uomo marked the first chapter, shuttling guests to the outskirts of the city by coach, before drafting a cavalcade of black cars to drive up Monte Morello to the Medicea della Petraia, a 16th-century Medici villa where the show was held. Unfolding in the Renaissance gardens, the collection featured brand’s signature knife-cut pleats in a multitude of iterations – the colours and textures inspired by a series of research trips in Italy over the past year (one fabric evoked the look and texture of linen, while others colour-matched lemons, courgette flowers and the sun-soaked pastels of Cinque Terre’s streets). ‘The collection was inspired by not only Florence but places throughout Italy – there are many beautiful cities and landscapes,’ the Homme Plissé design team told Wallpaper*.

READ: With an ode to Italy, Homme Plissé Issey Miyake brings its brand of fashion magic to Florence’s Pitti Uomo

Margaret Howell’s cooling gelato pit-stop

Margaret Howell’s Florentine outpost has one of the most enviable positions in the city, just a stone’s throw away from the River Arno on Piazza Carlo Goldoni. On Wednesday afternoon, a party with the UKFT (UK Fashion and Textile Association) – of which Margaret Howell managing director Caroline Attwood has recently joined the board – provided a welcome pitstop. Alongside the requisite glasses of sparkling wine was a gelato truck from Florence institution Vivoli serving scoops of vanilla and pistachio – of the latter flavour, a number of guests remarked that the subtle green hue would fit seamlessly into one of Howell’s collections.

A sensual summer outing from rising Italian star Niccolò Pasqualetti

There was no denying that the searing morning heat was something of a distraction to the young Italian designer’s Niccolò Pasqualetti’s S/S 2026 show, though their clever, sliced-away garments – imbued with an sultry undercurrent – looked good against the bright blue Florentine skyline (the show was held on the industrial rooftop of the modern Maggio Musicale Fiorentino concert hall). Citing ambiguity as the hallmark of their work (‘the fluidity of stone and the sensuality of water’ reads the brand’s Instagram bio), the collection was defined by a deconstructionist impulse, with assymetric tailoring cut-away to reveal its lining, or billowing white poplin shirts which had been twisted to hang off the body with an in-built shoulder strap. Indeed, a feeling of undress – or being in the state of undressing – ran through collection, while a use of silk, linen and cotton seemed a nod towards traditional Italian fabrications (albeit reworked into their own vernacular). ‘Without nostalgia, we find ways to layer the past, and build new meanings for the future,’ the designer described, with the late hyper-pop pioneer Sophie providing the finale‘s moving soundtrack.

Herno’s all-encompassing, wear-anywhere men’s wardrobe

The Herno pavilion at Pitti Uomo is always a cool haven away from the main hustle of the fair, seeing the Italian fashion house – best known for its innovative fabrications – show a comprehensive menswear offering which spans categories and styles. Designed for the man who traverses ‘scenery, cities, rhythms’, this season‘s collection was divided into seven sections – from the more classic ‘Excellence’ line, which comprises more archetypal menswear styles in rareified materials, from silk-cashmere to double-faced wool (albeit in featherweight lightness for summer), to the sharp-lined ‘Advance’, a minimal sportswear line inspired by technical hiking gear. Others referenced collegiate attire in preppy striped shirts and Herno-motif cardigans, or drew on the heritage fabrics for which Herno is famous for. As has been the brand’s modus operandi in recent seasons, the focus was on a ‘full look’ – from trousers to knitwear, and all that’s in between – a shift away from the brand’s outerwear roots (the company began by producing raincoats with an innovative castor-oil coating in the 1960s).

Brunello Cucinelli’s dramatic dinner party

Located on the Costa San Giorgio – a steep ten-minute-or-so walk upwards from the Ponte Vecchio – is the serene Villa Bardini, built in 1641 and best known for its magical baroque gardens. It was here, overlooking the city, that Solomeo-based designer Brunello Cucinelli hosted his twice-yearly dinner party, which heralds the unofficial start of men’s fashion month (as such, it has a back-to-school feel, albeit in luxurious style). Illuminated with rows of candles, the dinner itself comprised a spread of local antipasto, before Mr Cucinelli’s famous paccheri pasta – in its rich red tomato sauce – was served from bowls so large it takes two chefs to carry. The next day, the designer revealed his S/S 2026 collection at the main fair, where the colour red was also on Mr Cucinelli’s mind – with shades spanning dusty pink, cherry red and burgundy, while a zingy tangerine shirt was a highlight. In terms of fit, jackets and trousers were cut to a longer length: an appeal to younger consumers who are erring away from the brand’s more traditional ankle-bearing crop.

Tommy Hilfiger’s one-night-only social club

‘The art of dressing up is back,’ said Tommy Hilfiger on Tuesday evening, when the American designer opened the doors to a one-night-only private member’s club – ‘The Hilfiger Social Club’ – in Florence’s Palazzo Portinari Salviati. Amid white linen-covered tables, branded cushions, director’s chairs and the requisite Aperol Spritz station, models wandered wearing a new ‘sartorial’ collection, ‘Tommy Hilfiger New York’. Offering dressed-up riffs on Hilfiger’s preppy uniform, inspired by the traditions of London’s Savile Row, the designer said it was a response to a change in the way men are dressing. ‘[People] are embracing an elevated look and it’s brought this great energy back to tailoring traditions,’ said Hilfiger, who was mobbed by well-wishers when he popped into the event. ‘When I started my brand 40 years ago, I set out to give those traditional codes a fun American twist. That's what we’re doing again today – introducing a new chapter in our menswear story.’