Soshi Otsuki’s Cultural Vision at Pitti Uomo 109
Mon 12 Jan
With Pitti Uomo 109 on the horizon, we highlight SOSHIOTSUKI, the Japanese label founded by Soshi Otsuki, whose work articulates a rare balance between cultural depth, contemporary tailoring, and quiet innovation.
Since its launch in 2015, SOSHIOTSUKI has emerged as a singular voice in menswear, transforming the codes through a practice rooted in research, precision, and craft. Otsuki’s vision draws from Japanese classical performing arts and ceremonial traditions, reinterpreting their gestures, structures, and symbolism into garments that feel intentional, composed, and resolutely modern.
His collections unfold as a dialogue between Eastern heritage and Western sartorial language, a place where tailored silhouettes expand and contract, proportions echo traditional forms, and construction becomes a vehicle for meaning. Recognizable for their calm authority and measured strength, his designs express a fashion that is not declarative, but deeply considered. This distinctive approach has earned international recognition, culminating in the coveted 2025 LVMH Prize, affirming Otsuki’s ability to translate cultural memory into a contemporary wardrobe that resonates across contexts and continents.
At Pitti Uomo 109, SOSHIOTSUKI arrives as a Guest Designer, presenting a special show where tradition is neither preserved nor replicated, but reimagined, offering a vision of menswear shaped by discipline, sensitivity, and enduring relevance.
Responding to Pitti Uomo’s invitation, Soshi Otsuki said: “It has been fifteen years since I spent four years competing in an Italian competition that I ultimately did not win. At the time, I felt that Japan’s somber atmosphere did not quite belong under the bright Italian sky, and perhaps I gave up on the idea. Now, more than a decade later, I am deeply honored to be able to present a show here in Florence. I am curious and excited to see how SOSHIOTSUKI’s clothing will resonate under the Italian sky today.”
The SOSHIOTSUKI Guest Designer show at Pitti Uomo 109 will take place on 15 January 2026, 15:00, at Palazzina Reale di Santa Maria Novella, Firenze.