Between Utility and Refinement: Uma Wang’s Menswear Reflects a Changing Masculine Ideal

Voluminous silhouettes and beautiful tailoring were highlights of Uma Wang's latest menswear collection. 

Set in the context of Shanghai’s rapid transformation in the first quarter of the 20th century, Uma Wang’s Autumn/Winter 2026 menswear collection examines a period when the city became a crossroads of global influence and local tradition. Drawing on this moment of cultural exchange, the designer presents a wardrobe that reflects how shifts in urban life, work, and leisure reshaped the way men dressed, then and now, through a balance of tailoring, volume, and material innovation, writes Antonio Visconti. Photographs by Francesco Brigida

Jackets are softened with

relaxed construction.

UMA WANG anchors her menswear collection in a defining moment of cultural convergence: Shanghai in the early 1930s. It was a period marked by accelerated exchange, when Western modernity entered daily life alongside deeply rooted Chinese traditions. 

Rather than treating this era as nostalgia, Wang approaches it as a framework for examining how clothing reflects social change, cultural adaptation, and evolving modes of masculinity.

The collection presents a renewed menswear vocabulary shaped by the lifestyle shifts of the time. As urban life expanded to include new forms of entertainment, leisure, and work, dress became more fluid and multifunctional. Wang translates this historical shift into garments that move confidently between formality and utility, reflecting a modern wardrobe built for varied contexts rather than fixed occasions.

Silhouettes span the full range of classic menswear, from tailored shirting and structured jackets to pragmatic workwear and protective outer layers. However, traditional tailoring is consistently challenged. Jackets are softened through padding and relaxed construction, while linear graphic elements disrupt expected proportions. Cotton fabrics, typically associated with rigidity, are manipulated into more fluid forms, introducing movement and tactility into otherwise disciplined shapes.

By using a pivotal historical moment to examine contemporary dress, Uma Wang delivers a collection that is both intellectually grounded and practically relevant

With minimal decorative elements, 

cut, fabric and proportion were key. 

Material development plays a central role in grounding the collection. The interaction between texture and construction recalls the tactile memory of historic Chinese textiles, not through replication but through reinterpretation. Surfaces appear worn, layered, or subtly distorted, suggesting time, use, and transformation. This treatment reinforces the collection’s central theme: clothing as a record of cultural and personal evolution.

Wang’s approach to design remains deliberately restrained. Decorative elements are minimal, allowing cut, fabric, and proportion to carry the narrative. The garments resist closure, with finishes that appear intentionally unresolved. This sense of incompletion is not accidental but conceptual, reinforcing the idea of history as an ongoing process rather than a fixed reference point.

The result is a menswear collection defined by controlled tension. Strength is present, but it is not rigid or monumental; instead, it is adaptive, thoughtful, and understated. Wang positions masculinity here as responsive rather than dominant, shaped by environment and experience.

Uma Wang offers a clear and disciplined statement in this collection. By using a pivotal historical moment to examine contemporary dress, she delivers a collection that is both intellectually grounded and practically relevant, placed between tradition and modernity, without leaning too heavily on either.

Scroll down to see highlights from the Autumn/Winter 2026 menswear collection 

Florence’s Fashion Architecture of Ease: Pitti Uomo’s Street Style is Tailored, Tempered and Timeless

A well-cut suit and long overcoat are always a good idea in Florence during Pitti Uomo's winter edition. Cover picture and photograph above by Andrea Heinsohn for DAM

Italy's foremost Renaissance city moves to its own sartorial rhythm, and during this season's Pitti Uomo it was that rhythm ~ subtle, assured, and quietly expressive ~ that set the tone. Away from spectacle and slogans, the city’s streets revealed a refined approach to menswear that upended mercurial fashion trends. What emerged was a collective mood: thoughtful dressing, ensconced in craft and ease, unfolding naturally against the austere architecture and elegant pace of the city itself, all captured by our Europe Editor and photographer Andrea Heinsohn

Hats of all styles, shapes and hues

were a feature at Pitti Uomo 109

FLORENCE has always understood the theatre of dress, but during Pitti Uomo's 109th edition, for Autumn/Winter 2026-27, the city’s streets became the most compelling runway of all. 

From the cobblestones outside Fortezza da Basso which hosts the more than 750 fashion designers and labels at the biannual tradeshow, to the shaded cafés lining the Arno, menswear unfolded not as trend forecasting, but as lived style: personal, assured, and considered. Gelid mornings brought out an array of hats from leopard-print fedoras to peaked caps, purple berets and curling cowboy stetsons. 

This season’s street style was marked by a confident quietness. The peacocking of past years has softened into something more nuanced: elegance over excess, intention over noise. Tailoring remained central, but worn with a looseness that suggested ease rather than effort. Double-breasted jackets were cut longer and lighter, often unlined, paired with softly pleated trousers that moved with the body. Shoulders were relaxed, proportions generous, and everything felt designed for real movement under the winter Tuscan sun.

Colour told its own story. Neutrals dominated ~ stone, tobacco, olive, charcoal ~ but were punctuated with moments of confident expression. A saffron knit under a linen blazer. A deep oxblood loafer grounding an otherwise pale ensemble. Pastels appeared sparingly, most often washed and chalky, giving pinks and blues a weathered, almost architectural quality. Nothing felt accidental yet nothing shouted.

Pitti Uomo street style is not about chasing novelty; it is about refining identity and in Florence, panache doesn’t shout, it converses

A euphony of different textures and greys

made a subtle & elegant statement of style

Texture, however, did the talking. Crisp poplin shirts rubbed shoulders with silks, raw linens, brushed cottons and soft symphonies in grey. There was a renewed appreciation for fabric as substance: materials that crease, patinate and age. Many looks appeared already lived in, as if style here was less about the moment and more about continuity.

Accessories were deliberate and restrained. Scarves, silk, cotton, and the occasional archival print, were knotted with nonchalance. Sunglasses were classic with a linear Seventies vibe rather than futuristic. Bags were practical: worn leather totes, canvas cross-bodies, document cases that hinted at work rather than display. Footwear ranged from impeccably polished derbies to softly beaten suede loafers, often worn without socks in true Florentine defiance of formality.

Perhaps most striking was the diversity of voices. Editors, designers, artisans, fashionistas and buyers each brought their own vocabulary to the streets, yet a shared respect for craft and individuality bound them together. Pitti Uomo 2026’s street style was not about chasing novelty; it was about refining identity. In Florence, style doesn’t shout, it converses. And this season the conversation has been richer, quieter, and more engaging than ever. ~ Jeanne-Marie Cilento

Scroll down to see more highlights from this season's Pitti Uomo street style in Florence, Italy