Held at Villa Palmieri during this season’s Pitti Uomo, the renowned Florence fashion school Polimoda presented its 2024 graduate show. Judged by an esteemed jury including Stefano Pilati, Gaia Repossi and David Koma, the experts awarded the annual Best Collection prize to designer Jimena Guzman, a Fashion Design graduate.

Consisting of six looks, Guzman’s collection – titled Bajo Mundo – paid homage to the cultural roots of the Dominican Republic. Inspired by Dembow music and the country’s marginal communities, traditional techniques are contemporised and reworked alongside sculptural leather shoulders and the shortest of shorts. Materials include everyday objects found on the streets of the Caribbean (check out those tin can headpieces), while raffia constructed from palm leaves – known as ‘cana’ – are used throughout, created in collaboration with local artisans.