MILAN — The final day of the spring 2010 menswear collections in Milan spotlighted many of the secondary lines of some of the biggest names in fashion, collections generally perceived to be the sportier, more rebellious young brothers to the high-end lines. But rather than looking like second-class fashion citizens, these shows were collectively strong, with distinctive messages that pushed them out of the shadows of their big brothers’ broad shoulders.
Dolce and Gabbana are known for their love of themes. This time, with their D&G show, they turned their attention toward the world of Western attire. But instead of riding the inspiration until it dropped, the design duo showed restraint. The collection was more James Dean in “Giant” than “Rhinestone Cowboy” — although the designers couldn’t help tricking out a jacket or two with shiny brass rivets.
So down a sundried catwalk, the models kicked up dust in their spurred boots and country clothes. Jeans, treated to look faded, frayed and patched as if they had been broken in during years of cattle rides, showed the designers’ deft hand with denim.
Jackets cut snug against the waist, in gradated brown leather or with a single button and a “J.R. Ewing” wide lapel, looked just right pared with the classic chambray shirt. But with prices for D&G pieces running neck and neck with those bearing a Dolce and Gabbana label, this collection will be attracting only city slickers.
The dynamic Emporio Armani show saw the tattooed and toned Vittorio Brumotti, bike trials phenomenon and Guinness Book of World Records holder, transform the bleachers and catwalk into his personal off-road trail. But once Mr. Brumotti pedaled away, it was Giorgio Armani’s turn to wow the audience.
He showed that he can do it all — everything from tailored three-piece suits to sporty cargo shorts. Need a pair of Emporio Armani long johns? Or how about a matching suit for your 15-month-old son? No problem. Want a touch of the Orient in your attire? How about a cropped pant with a graphic floral print or a shawl-collared, brick-red leather jacket?
But the collection wasn’t just an exercise to illustrate Mr. Armani’s capacity to design every style of menswear. It showed how seamlessly the designer transformed each look, through color, cut and fit, into the Armani esthetic.
The standing ovation from the audience when Mr. Armani took his bow showed the message had been received loud and clear.
If Z Zegna is supposed to be the sportier line of the Ermenegildo Zegna Empire, nobody told the designer Alessandro Sartori. As the rich classical notes of a live cellist reverberated in the entrance hall of Zegna headquarters, Mr. Sartori presented his audience with a modern-day dandy.
Top hats and tails paired with fitted flat-front pants and bi-color boots — the description sounds more like a costume than clothing, but on the runway it worked. The lightweight tailcoats were frayed to give them a deconstructed elegance while multi-pocketed blazers, cut to keep the volume in check, made for a viable sartorial option. And the pairing of feather-light cotton T-shirts with two-tone pinstripe jackets and pocket chains showed that sophistication and street can play nicely together.
Stop the presses: Moschino has decided to use newspaper print as the theme of its show. No, wait — that’s not news, the label has done it before.
And so it was that Moschino trotted out shirts covered in ’50s classified ads (X-ray eyeglasses, anyone?) and jackets or jeans patched with black-and-white photos.
Styled with retro horn-rimmed glasses and hats that would look good on Cary Grant circa the 1940 “His Girl Friday,” the collection felt not so much vintage as recycled. If the idea of ink spots splattered across jackets, shoes, hats and the runway itself had been developed further, this collection might just have been breaking news.
This season, the knitwear brand Ballantyne appears to be targeting a younger audience with its brightly colored suits, picture-postcard pullovers and shirts designed to be worn with matching sweaters.
The brand continues to show its collections in a presentation format, and there is no better way to get up close and personal with the company’s latest advancements in yarn technology.
This time, it is something called “cash-active” yarn, cashmere imbedded with microscopic bits of ceramic that protect the wearer from UV rays and help keep the body cool on hot summer days. It’s a clever idea but, at €800 in this economy, it might be better to invest in more sunscreen.
Iceberg should take a page out of Ballantyne’s playbook. Not every collection needs a vast runway space to get its message across. If the label had taken its models off their pedestals at the end of the show and let the audience get a better look at the clothing, maybe some hidden details or endearing touches might have been spotted.
From a distance, however, this collection seemed straightforward in its “Casual Fridays” style, its color palette consisting mostly of shades of gray. The odd sweater with abstract blocks of color and the brightly hued shoes seemed to be the only link to the show’s stated inspiration — contemporary art.
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