Niccolò Pasqualetti shows breezy new take on menswear at Pitti Uomo

Niccolò Pasqualetti has delighted Florence. Featuring as special guest at Pitti Uomo, the Italian designer, who habitually shows in Paris, staged a wonderful show on Thursday on the auditorium terrace at the Teatro del Maggio Fiorentino, akin to a modern marble labyrinth perched atop a vast stairway. Like mirages under the noonday sun, the models stepped as though suspended across this captivating, almost futuristic space.

Pasqualetti took advantage of his presence at Pitti Uomo to unveil his first menswear collection, for Spring/Summer 2026. As often with Pasqualetti, the collection looked quite ordinary. But on closer inspection, even the most classic items in the collection had been cleverly reinvented, through a myriad details and painstaking work on volumes and garment construction. The result was a sophisticated, uber-contemporary men’s wardrobe.

Pasqualetti has imaginatively reinterpreted the main menswear staples, whether utility wear, military uniforms or the most classic tailored suits, turning each of them into new, original looks. For example, a classic wool waistcoat morphed into a tank top-corset thanks to swathes of sheer tulle fabric hiding the upper part of the shoulders. Trousers were cinched below the waist by multiple pleats. A jacket was transformed into a cropped, oval cape with rounded openings at the shoulders.

Some shirts’ hems extended and flared out, creating movement when the shirts were unbuttoned. Elsewhere, a shirt was presented minus one sleeve, replaced by a shoulder strap, adding a light summery touch. Pasqualetti adopted the same trick for an austere black suit jacket. In another jacket, he shortened the sleeves, making them flare like a kimono’s.

“I love to work with items that are hard to pigeonhole. Capes that behave like shirts, trousers that split lengthwise or bend around the leg, suits softened by pleats and asymmetric lines. I try to let fabrics guide me. Some are so beautiful that I leave them as they are, while others improve by being mixed up in a sort of collage,” said Pasqualetti.

In a sportier register, Pasqualetti redesigned a pair of denim dungarees by setting the bib slightly off-centre and adding pleats. A camo T-shirt evolved into an openwork leather top. Some models wore crocheted tops, others micro tank top-corsets. Pasqualetti also had fun with layering effects. Layered fabrics were used to create fluid skirt-trousers, while a pleated skirt was slipped into a pair of trousers. Sweaters knitted in a variety of stitch types glided and billowed over the models’ bodies.

Masculine and feminine elements blended harmoniously, without gratuitous excess or purposeless provocation. Pasqualetti’s menswear is absolutely contemporary. His looks are made for travelling with no bags, only a flat bum bag-belt equipped with a removable maxi pouch. Everything was functional and comfortable, and at the same time chic and sophisticated. Some pieces of brutalist-style jewellery featured in occasional looks.

“With menswear, you generally have to abide by certain codes, but there’s an art to breaking the rules. Every day is a negotiation between the formal and the casual, between individuality and belonging, strength and vulnerability. I want my clothes to reflect this reality, allowing everyone to express several personalities at once,” concluded Pasqualetti.