BY JAY AQUINO

JULY 1, 2026

For Spring/Summer 2027, Rowen Rose stepped into its Secret Garden at Milan Fashion Week, presenting the house’s third co-ed runway show inside Villa Arconati, the so-called little Milanese Versailles. Its faded salons, pastel walls, and formal gardens worked as more than a beautiful backdrop, giving Emma Rowen Rose a world where softness was never passive, but styled and fully in control. The title draws on the French idea of the jardin secret, a private inner space where desire, memory, and contradiction are kept.

The feminine aspect of the collection was especially strong, introducing a renewed angle in menswear, even if the idea of feminised menswear has already been explored by many designers before. What made it specific to Rowen Rose was the way femininity leaned into the image of a woman in her power dress. That idea came through in the broad-shouldered blazers, the double-breasted jackets, the rosettes, and the kiss-lock clutches carried by male models.

The opening lilac suit set the tone through a double-breasted jacket that gave the upper body a broad, formal frame, while the pooling trousers loosened the look from below. What could have been a simple pastel suit became more pointed through proportion, with the jacket carrying the structure of menswear as the rosette, striped cuffs and floral clutch shifted that power into something more intimate and romantic.

That interplay between structure and intimacy continued in the ivory ribbed knit worn over glossy burgundy trousers. The knit carried the ease of something domestic and almost private, while the trousers brought a sharper surface through their slick embossed finish. Cream against wine, softness against shine, and comfort against control gave the look its force, proving that sensuality often comes from contrast. The floral corsage linked it back to the garden idea without letting the look become sentimental.

Rowen Rose was strongest when familiar menswear pieces were released from their expected meaning. A dotted shirt with a scarf-like wrap and fluttering hem sat above blue knee-length shorts, turning resort dressing into something more mannered and nostalgic. Later, an open white shirt, wide striped trousers, and a striped tie reframed boardroom codes as something closer to the dressing room. The tie became decorative, the trousers carried the movement, and the shirt spoke of privacy, not work.

The outerwear enhanced the mood through a glossy navy trench that introduced a strict vertical line, its double-breasted closure, belt, and cuff details drawn from classic coat construction. The lacquered surface pulled the look toward evening, while the white trousers kept it from feeling too heavy and the gloves and textured white bag added a colder edge.

Color carried much of the collection’s emotional weight, with lilac, pale blue, mint, cream, and white grounded by burgundy, navy, and black before they softened the mood too much. A burgundy ribbed polo worn with glossy wide trousers narrowed the silhouette into something more direct, giving the floral corsage a better purpose within the look. A pale blue jacket-and-shorts look, softened by ruffles and rosettes, showed how tailoring could keep its shape while still feeling intimate.

By the final mint menswear suit, the collection had made its case. Rowen Rose was not weakening menswear or treating femininity as fragile. The house took suiting, shirting, outerwear, and resort codes, then let flowers, color, shine, and touch shift their temperature. Secret Garden worked because its romance had a backbone, private, cultivated and far stronger than it first appeared.

Discover Rowen Rose here.