Top Designers Are Focusing on Men's Fashion:

Prada stays traditional: Models just out of boyhood, with wispy hairstyles and de rigueur horn-rimmed glasses, walked the runway in traditional overcoats, tweed or leather blazers, patterned cashmere pullovers, and casual slacks.

Ties came in preppie wool or striped silk, but Master Prada actually prefers a thin woolen scarf tied like an ascot. The only funky items in the collection were the haphazard knit and leather caps.

Dolce and Gabanna bring it down: Their Sunday show got the current round of Italian menswear off to an eye-opening start with a new pair of jeans that make hipster pants look like overalls.

During the show, which inaugurated the five-day preview showings for the fall-winter 2005-2006, the fun-loving duo paraded Adonis models with perfect muscle tone and multiple tattoos, in jeans both distressed and bejeweled, but above all belted way below the belly button.

Versace for the busy man: Donatella Versace presented a man who likes life on the fast track. He prefers conquering the city on a powerful motorcycle, wearing a jet-black leather jacket with flexible padding at the elbow, matched with leather pants with the same padding at the knees. When he shows up at the office he can wear either a slick tight-fitting pinstriped suit or a velvet dinner jacket over pants with golden zipper pockets, proving that his clock doesn't tick conventional time.

Jil Sander stays comfortable: The Jil Sander collection — also presented Sunday — was neat and nice with proper suits and ultra-soft cashmere sweaters all in black, gray and classic camel. The collection was put together by the Sander's menswear designing team after the designer left the company for the second time in the fall of 2004.

Posted by Lawren at January 18, 2005 06:29 AM

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