Setchu Named Guest Designer of January 2025 Pitti Uomo
MILAN — As the fashion pack starts its women’s spring 2025 marathon, menswear trade fair Pitti Uomo is already looking ahead and has revealed the name of its guest designer for the January trade show.
Setchu, the brand founded and helmed by Satoshi Kuwata, an industry veteran who has worked for several fashion labels — from a Savile Row tailor to luxury sneakers brand Golden Goose — is to host its inaugural runway show in Florence as part of the menswear fair.
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As reported, Pitti Uomo will run from Jan. 14 to 17, but a date and location for the Setchu show have yet to be disclosed.
“I am honored and emotional to parade Setchu’s first fashion show next January at Pitti Uomo,” Kuwata said. “I look forward to unveiling my collection and sharing it with such a competent audience. I’ll be playing with versatility, timelessness, artisanship and functionality, which are all instrumental in creating something special.”
Praised for his languid tailoring and workwear-inspired garb, Kuwata has been fusing Japanese and Western concepts in his fashion, with items like foldable jackets in origami-like constructions, gaining him the 2023 LVMH Prize for Young Designers.
The Milan-based Kuwata was born in Kyoto, Japan, and moved to London at age 21 to pursue a career in fashion. He launched the unisex label Setchu in 2020 after cutting his teeth at Huntsman in Savile Row during his studies at Central Saint Martins; Gareth Pugh in London; Kanye West and Givenchy in Paris; Edun in New York City, and Golden Goose in Milan. In 2023 Kuwata was also the recipient of the grant of the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana Fashion Trust.
“Over the years we’ve become passionate about scouting masters and innovators from the Japanese fashion world,” said Lapo Cianchi, head of communication and events at Pitti Immagine, the trade show organizer. “We continue to scout and promote the new generation of designers offering an original vision of men’s fashion and toying with art, fashion and high tailoring. In Japanese, Setchu defines an equidistant point between the Western and Nippon cultures: different worlds that Kuwata juxtaposes and puts into dialogue with each other with strong eclecticism with a contemporary touch.”
Kuwata follows in the footsteps of Marine Serre, Martine Rose and Grace Wales Bonner, among others, as a guest designer of the men’s trade fair. This marks the first announcement Pitti Uomo organizers have made to build up the hype around the 107th edition of the show.
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