MILAN — British brand S. S. Daley is the second guest designer to present its men’s fall collection at the upcoming edition of Pitti Uomo, scheduled to run from Jan. 9 to 12 at the Fortezza da Basso in Florence.
Liverpool-native designer Steven Stokey-Daley, age 26, was the 2022 recipient of the LVMH Prize for Young Designers, stealing the spotlight for his shows and clothing marked by a penchant for theatrics in viewing the British class system through a queer lens.
Pitti Uomo did not disclose the date and format of S. S. Daley’s presentation at the four-day fair.
“I’m honored to have the opportunity to take S. S. Daley’s manifesto of modern British storytelling to Pitti Uomo, the epicenter of menswear design,” Stokey-Daley said.
After graduating from the University of Westminster, the designer gained high-profile fans, including Harry Styles, who wore Stokey-Daley’s graduate collection in his “Golden” music video. Stokey-Daley has credited the existence of his label, formally established in 2020, to Styles and his stylist Harry Lambert.
Stokey-Daley made his London Fashion Week debut in September 2021 supported by the National Youth Theatre artistic director Paul Roseby, staging a four-part performance by members of the theater, riffing on British tailoring and tackling such topics as social class, inequality, school life, sexual awakening and homosexuality.
That same year, the S. S. Daley designer was among the recipients of the British Fashion Council’s Newgen initiative and was awarded again by the Birtish fashion governing body the following year, with the BFC Foundation Awards.
“Steven Stokey-Daley transforms the British upper class into a queer fashion fantasy,” said Francesca Tacconi, special events coordinator at Pitti Immagine. “Despite his young age, Steven’s fashion is characterized by an expressive maturity, an amused and eccentric reinterpretation of British heritage, an indifference to gender stereotypes and a commitment to sustainability.”
“We love his talent for revising the archetypes of menswear, the uniforms of the most exclusive British high-society public schools, capturing the signs of the times and extravagantly subverting everything with a subtle irony, playfully amplifying the volumes of his garments, fooling around with the details, working with unexpected fabrics and floral prints,” she continued, noting how the Pitit Uomo display is to mark another step in the designer’s international exposure.
Stokey-Daley’s gender-fluid take on the uniforms of the British upper classes, such as wide-legged trousers, argyle-knit wool vests and embroidered shirts appeals to a Gen-Z sensibility, and a growing female customer base. The brand is currently stocked in a handful of retailers, including Saks Fifth Avenue, Dover Street Market, Matchesfashion, Bergdorf Goodman, 10 Corso Como Seoul and I.T Store.
The news comes a couple of week after the leading menswear trade fair announced Luca Magliano as guest designer, crowning a golden year for the Bologna-native designer, after his namesake brand has gained increasing heat on the Milan scene in the last few seasons. He also received the Karl Lagerfeld Special Jury Prize at the LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers.
As special guest of Pitti Uomo, Stokey-Daley follows in the footsteps of the likes of ERL’s Eli Russell Linnetz, Martine Rose, Grace Wales Bonner and Thebe Magugu. Former guest brands and designers showing in Florence also included Jil Sander’s creative directors Lucie and Luke Meier; Y/Project’s creative director Glenn Martens; Jonathan Anderson of JW Anderson; Roberto Cavalli, and Craig Green.
The first two announcements are already building hype around the 105th edition of the international menswear trade show. A full schedule of events is expected to be released on Nov. 10.
