SOSHIOTSUKI Reveals ASICS & PROLETA RE ART Collabs on Pitti Uomo's FW26 Runway
Bringing tailored touches of contemporary Japanese fashion to his much-anticipated Florentine debut.
Summary
- SOSHIOTSUKI debuted at Pitti Uomo, blending European-inspired tailoring with structural innovations to create motion through curved lapels and bias-cut shirts.
- Featuring collaborations with ASICS and PROLETA RE ART, the collection showcased a “reverse importation” of Japanese craftsmanship into Italy’s tailoring hub.
On January 15, rising Japanese designer SOSHIOTSUKI called in unexpected collaborations in his highly anticipated Pitti Uomo debut. Situated at Florence’s Refettorio di Santa Maria Novella, Otsuki’s elegantly tailored suits moved down the arched runway lined with patinated columns.
The Japanese designer arrives at a full-circle moment, bringing his largely European-inspired tailoring to its Italian hub. The echo of Italian menswear designers like Giorgio Armani and Ermenegildo Zegna was visible in his bold, flattering shapes and a traditional sportswear palette.
SOSHIOTSUKI’s exploration of Western tailoring is centered on the manipulation of details like lapels and collars, which were engineered to curl ever so slightly. Elsewhere, Oxford shirts were constructed in the bias — a method designers have historically used to enhance drape in gowns. His aim in all of this was to create a sense of motion.
Materials-wise, there was no shortage of texture and character in various tweeds, pinstripes, and sateen foulard fabrics layered with cardigans and corduroys. Along with his signature sharp shoulders and roomy fits, the designer showcased new explorations in textiles, including a red chunky, knitted sweater, a diagonal corduroy rendered in emerald green, and lustrous toffee-colored leather.
The faded frescoes and aged stucco surfaces of the venue formed a complementary background for PROLETA RE ART’s momentary, but impactful interventions. Like the walls surrounding, the unsuspecting partners’ collaborative blazers and trousers appeared to bear centuries of decay and distress. Each piece was finished with traditional Japanese sashiko stitches — perhaps an homage to their shared culture.
Elsewhere, a collaboration with Japan-born label ASICS was teased in a blue velvet track hoodie, paired with SOSHIOTSUKI’s signature taupe-toned tailoring. Other Japanese collaborators included artist Kota Okuda and heritage textile manufacturer Gunze. According to the brand, each of these interventions was not mere decoration but rather a rethinking of “structure, function, and physicality.”
The designer’s warm welcome to “the spiritual home of tailoring” is self-described as a form of “reverse importation,” or, in other words, an equal cultural exchange. Bringing his personal lens to the international practice of tailoring is not meant to disrupt or reinvent the tradition, but rather to leave his unique stamp on its ongoing evolution.
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