The Alexander McQueen fashion house presented its first menswear collection following the designer's death, drawing on archives and the fashion house's British roots in a bid for continuity.
But not everyone stuck close to familiar territory on the second day of men's fashion week on Sunday: Giorgio Armani presented a surprisingly edgy and militaristic/borderline S&M line for next summer.
In a diametrically opposite look for the season, Gianfranco Ferré's young designing pair looked to India, Japan and China for a relaxed, easy-to-wear collection cut largely of linen and silk.
Alexander McQueen's spring-summer 2011 collection was the first solo outing for Sarah Burton, who has worked with the fashion house for 16 years and was named creative director last month.
The collection hits a range of historical notes, from World War I Tommies to uppercrust Eton schoolboys. "This is the England of Alexander McQueen, a place of eclectic historical and cultural references," the fashion house said in a release.
There were classic trench coats of superlight fabric, over stretch tweed military-style leggings, and linen jackets paired with skinny pants that defy their slim fit with cargo pockets.
The colour range was mostly neutrals, greys and tans, with flashes of red and orange that burst through in one rich red velvet jacket over wide-leg silk trousers with an Oriental print.
Shirts ran the gamut from an easy Nehru collar, or wide, stiff Eton-collar shirts that give new meaning to the phrase buttoned-up.
The collection's highlight was an evening suit that faded from a shimmery silver to grey, giving the effect of a spotlight shining from above, with roomy trousers rolled up at the heel.
GianFranco Ferré's young design team of Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi sought inspiration in the Orient, with references from China, India and Japan in their collection.
Lightweight shirts were collarless, or high-collared with buttons in the back, paired with loose trousers or Bermuda shorts. Floppy broad-brimmed hats provided ample sun protection on a safari or in a rice paddy.
For forays into the city, there were three-piece suits and for the evening a tuxedo in silk shantung, cream with black lapels and tie.
The collection features soothing colours of powder green to sand khaki to sky blue and intense lapis lazuli.
The Bottega Veneta man is on the go, and his destination could well be the tropics.
His wardrobe is easy to pack — wrinkles are part of the look — and the range is from guerrilla chic, say olive green garb of lightweight fabric with strategic pockets, to easy-fitting suits that can be slipped on for a gin-and-tonic at an embassy cocktail party.
Shoes have sturdy soles — as he never knows what to expect.
"The collection is about performance and possibility, about what happens when you combine materials and techniques in new ways," designer Tomas Maier said in notes.
For his second line, Emporio Armani, Giorgio Armani strode unshrinking into the leather-clad world depicted in Lady Gaga's Alejandro video, which was fully referenced at the end of the show when a parade of Emporio models dressed in black leather military gear from the caps on their heads to the lace-up boots marched across the runway.
No relaxed summer look for the Emporio Armani man: He's clad in leather and wearing chains, or maybe a mesh metal scarf.
"Maybe this is not something we expect to see from Emporio Armani," the designer said after the show. The collection is something youths would "happily wear for their nocturnal wanderings in search of fun", Armani said.
Armani took elements that have become wardrobe standards and put in a contemporary twist, pairing Bermuda shorts with leggings, and updating camouflage with cool city colours, including putty, beige and grey.
There was lots of leather — pants, short-sleeve shirts, gilets with cap sleeves and jackets that might be laser-cut or given an animal print including fish scales and a tortoise.
For the beach, there were black brief swimsuits over crocodile-print lycra leggings and one-piece bathing suits reminiscent of Sacha Baron Cohen's Brüno but less whimsical and definitely not fluorescent.
Full-on Drama
That Giorgio Armani and pop star Lady Gaga have always shared a great working relationship, we all know. So it should come as no surprise that at the Italian designer's spring-summer 2011 outing on Sunday for Emporio Armani, dominated by a dark, leathery palette, Gaga's shocktastic Alejandro video played in the finale. Out came the chains, the heavy eye make-up and of course, lots of leather. If drama was what Armani wanted, he got it — Lady Gaga would definitely approve.
