5 Trends from Milan men's fashion week

Men's fashion week wraps up in Milan Tuesday after five days of catwalk shows presenting the luxury market's Spring-Summer 2024 collections.

Here are the top five trends.

Short suits

Gone are traditional jacket and trouser suits. Instead, shorts are paired with wide, double-breasted blazers or slim-fitting jackets, worn with or without a tie. Valentino is crazy about them, and offers them in cotton or leather, loose-or close-fitting, but always elegant. Prada's shorts have darts and are a perfect fit, while Billionaire prefers them in Hawaiian mode, adorned with palm trees. Indian brand Dhruv Kapoor dares to bare with an ultra-short version in black cotton or denim, with an exposed zip. But spoilsport Giorgio Armani, 88, issued his own rule on shorts during fashion week, saying that "Bermuda shorts mean being on a beach or out and about for the holidays."

"And above all you have to have good legs! In the meantime, shorts are for sport, and that's that", said the Italian master of minimalism.

Mini skirt, maxi effect

For the more daring, Charles Jeffrey Loverboy offers a sparkling blue mini-skirt with a flashy belt revealing hairy legs, also suitable for XXL sizes. Or a low-waisted fluorescent green tutu which reveals a flash of red underpants. Dhruv Kapoor has a full skirt to below the knees or worn over trousers, matched with flat sandals and an ultra-long belt with straps skimming the ground. Fendi, which deserted the catwalks of Milan to have its models strut in a leather workshop outside Florence instead, offers a work kilt in the form of an ultra-short skirt in brown or greige leather, to slip over trousers or shorts.

The return of the tie

Ties make a big comeback. At Dolce & Gabbana, they are narrow and discreet, in a vintage 1950s style. Valentino innovates with a grey wool jumper with an almost imperceptible incorporated tie, while Armani and Fendi go with casual-chic scarves, tied around the neck.

Free the torso

Waistcoats are worn without shirts, including at the very classic Armani, while at Dsquared2 models go bare-chested, with just a pearl necklace. Etro offers colourful poncho-style capes that leave chests and navels bare, while at Dolce & Gabbana, shirts and tunics are translucent, even transparent, while some trousers reveal legs underneath.

Show-stopping bags

Bags are a must: black, yellow, apple green or bright red, tiny or voluminous, discreet or flashy. At Fendi, they range from woven baskets all the way to trompe-l'oeil toolboxes. The luxury house's iconic "Baguette" bag has also been brought up to date, while Prada highlights its leather bags, "unexpectedly soft to the touch", in black, grey, khaki, red and purple.(AFP)