‘Splitting the collections up rather than showing them together has really changed the way I’ve thought about menswear. It’s been great to give it this undivided attention to detail, because menswear is so much more detail-orientated than womenswear anyway. There’s really nowhere to hide with it.’ This is Simone Rocha talking, over video call the week before her first standalone menswear collection was unveiled at Pitti Uomo. In March it was announced that Rocha was to be the guest designer at the historic Florentine fair, following in the footsteps of Giorgio Armani, Raf Simons, Craig Green and more. This evening (18 June 2026), it finally happened.
Menswear has been a part of Rocha’s offering since 2022, but until now, shown in conjunction with her celebrated womenswear designs, which are rooted in a romantic yet oftentimes dark femininity, with references to folklore and her family’s mixed heritage. How would this interplay translate in a fully realised menswear collection?
Simone Rocha at Pitti Uomo S/S 2027
‘What I love the most in design is contrast, or tension,’ Rocha tells Wallpaper*. ‘Just as I’m always trying to conjure a femininity that’s not too sweet, with menswear I am drawn to the more tender aspects of masculinity. I’m trying to peel back the layers and see what sensitivity and poetry is available to play with.’ This has resulted in subversions of classic men’s shapes: a two-button jacket with classic break, which has the back scooped out and a tie fastening that echoes the strap of a waistcoat, but also calls to mind apron strings. The ubiquitous cotton poplin shirt is translated into broderie anglais, and an embroidered jacquard motif is engineered into a Fair Isle knit. Traditional underwear like long-johns, gingham boxer-shorts, and dress socks is not concealed, but worn on full display.
Speaking of how her Chinese and Irish family heritage finds its way into her work, Rocha shares that her maternal grandfather was in her mind throughout the creation of this collection. ‘He was a pharmacist in the Irish midlands, and because he was the pharmacist he was also the person who had the darkroom – everyone in town would take their pictures to him to develop, and he was also an incredible photographer himself. He had an amazing eye for composition. But it’s interesting to me that, because he was always behind the camera, there are very few photos of him. So the idea of being viewed versus being the viewer is something I’ve been thinking a lot about.’
This theme was furthered by the show’s venue – the Teatro Della Pergola, supposed to be Italy’s oldest opera house. Rocha has made opulent show locations something of a calling card, with previous outings at the restored Victorian theatre of Alexandra Palace, the official lord mayor’s residence at Mansion House, and even The Old Bailey. ‘I’m very sensitive to where I show,’ she says. ‘I see it as an extension of the collection. I think the Teatro might actually be too romantic to use for a women’s show, but for men’s it’s perfect. Behind the stage is this window to the outside, which is pretty unusual in a theatre, and so you have this wonderful shaft of light coming in and hitting the stage. It’s that bright light of Florence that I remember from visits to the city as a child.’
The Tuscan capital has infiltrated the collection in other ways too. ‘I am a Merchant Ivory obsessive!’ Rocha enthuses – explaining the cornflower motif that appears throughout the collection, a nod to the blossoms that appear in the 1985 adaptation of EM Forster’s A Room With A View, set in turn-of-the-century Florence. ‘There’s so much whimsy, and rebellion, and innocence in that story. It’s set in a different time but touches on so much contemporary feeling.’ Would actor Julian Sands’ unconventional, free-spirited George Emerson have been a Simone Rocha boy? It’s a nice thought.
