Steven Stokey-Daley named second guest designer at Pitti Uomo 105

Liverpudlian designer Steven Stokey-Daley, with the S.S. Daley label he founded in 2020, will be the second guest designer at Pitti Immagine Uomo 105, alongside Italian stylist Luca Magliano. Stokey-Daley is not yet thirty but has already garnered significant international praise, and will present his latest collection in Florence with one of his characteristic show-events.

“Steven Stokey-Daley transforms the British Upper Class into a Queer fashion fantasy. Despite his young age, Steven’s project is characterised by an expressive maturity, an amused and eccentric reinterpretation of British Heritage, an indifference to gender stereotypes and a commitment to sustainability,” said Francesca Tacconi, special events coordinator at Pitti Immagine, in a press release. “We love his talent for revising the archetypes of menswear, the uniforms of the most exclusive British 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. Then there is the almost literary character of his visions, recalling the impeccably mannered, incurably eccentric characters of Evelyn Waugh’s novels,” she added.

“I’m honoured to have the opportunity to take S.S. Daley’s manifesto of modern British storytelling to Pitti Uomo, the epicentre of menswear design,” said Stokey-Daley.

The designer’s S.S. Daley label sets out to reappraise and dismantle the classic notion of British Heritage, subverting it in a contemporary context by tapping Stokey-Daley’s own working-class upbringing.

After graduating from the University of Westminster, London, Stokey-Daley designed a menswear collection inspired by the signature traits of the 20th century British aristocracy’s wardrobe, and caught the eye of prestigious fashion industry names like Sarah Mower and Harry Lambert. The latter picked various items from S.S. Daley’s first collection to outfit British pop star Harry Styles for the video of his ‘Golden’ track.

Stokey-Daley first featured his menswear on Matchesfashion.com, and later introduced womenswear and accessories.

He debuted at London Fashion Week in September 2021, and was recognised at the British Fashion Council’s NewGen initiative. In June 2022, he was awarded the LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers. In December the same year, he received a Foundation Award at the British Fashion Awards.

S.S. Daley is available among others at Saks 5th Avenue, Dover Street Market, Matchesfashion.com, Bergdorf Goodman, 10 Corso Como Seoul, and the I.T Store.