This collection is leading the animal-print trend for men next season with lashings of tiger, leopard and zebra on coats, iPad accessories, winkle-pickers (yes, winkle-pickers), sunglasses (every look was finished with sunglasses), and even mixed with the classic Burberry check for holdalls and cross-body bags. But what really turned this show from an exercise in lovely coats loaded up with jazzy animal-patterned things into a fashion happening was the appearance of translucent rubber coats. The first one didn’t emerge until the 35th look but, still, it turned out to be one of the hottest outfits in Milan.
Photograph: SPG/Rex Features
Grungy. Bedroom clothes mixed up with roomy overcoats. Patterns clashed together. Fuzzy wool socks worn with winter sandals. Paisley PJs. Deep V-neck jumpers with shirt tails hanging beneath their hems. Jewel-encrusted knits and shirts. There was a lot to decipher in the latest Dries Van Noten instalment. His clothes sell by the bucketload in London department stores because they aren’t cut in tricky shapes and don’t screech “fashiony-fashion”. If you’re buying an oversized wool coat or a pair of jogger-style trousers next season, head to Dries. Photograph: Victor Boyko/Getty Images
Like many designers this season, Gucci’s creative director Frida Giannini referenced English fabrics in her show notes, and included rather dashing Prince of Wales check suiting and coats on her catwalk. The beautifully cut outerwear, from a robin’s-egg blue check coat, to styles in ochre, parsley green or classic black, are the kinds of grownup clothes that are worth saving up for. The trend for bold colour in men’s fashion isn’t going anywhere, either, and Giannini’s knits came in suitably punchy tones. Best in show? A banging lime-green cable mohair jumper worn with leather trousers. Photograph: Pixelformula/Sipa/Rex Features
The reinvention of this brand, by Opening Ceremony duo Humberto Leon and Carol Lim, is nothing short of genius. The men’s show this season was staged in Florence, but at the label’s showroom in Paris the collection burst into life on the racks. Youthful and affordable, items such as snug bomber jackets, sweatshirts in neoprene, cropped padded ski trousers and tiger-head patterned shirts are likely to sell well and feature on street-style blogs. Meanwhile, thick stripes are already emerging as the next big thing in women’s fashion, so backing them in menswear (see also Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Raf Simons) is canny. Photograph: Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images
Like Mrs Prada, Lucas Ossendrijver, the menswear designer at Lanvin, said he had taken classic pieces and played with their proportions. T-shirts were oversized with elbow-length sleeves, volume puffed in the bunched hem of a hooded coat and tailored jackets swung with a little extra breeze. Colours, including coral pink, mustardy yellow and powdery blues, ran confidently throughout, while Lanvin staples, such as loose, wide-legged trousers, sci-fi tech tops and trainers, all looked typically desirable. Scratch that. The trainers looked smoking. Photograph: PR
The Himalayas with a side of artiness from the Chapman Brothers. This was the top line from the latest Louis Vuitton menswear show by British menswear designer of the year Kim Jones, which featured a specially commissioned print by Dinos and Jake Chapman. It was a typically slick and luxurious masterclass in the merging of tailoring with sportswear. In fact, the idea of a modern wardrobe that mixes formal clothes with the casual factor continues to be one of the strongest themes underpinning men’s fashion shows. At Vuitton, there were no ties, puffers were worn with suits, and beanies were donned with swishly tailored, belted coats. Photograph: Victor Boyko/Getty Images
The British designer, speaking backstage after his show at the Pompidou Centre, said it was “hard to do something different that is still wearable”. His solution was to send out clothes that played to his strengths as a tailor and colourist. Suits in poppy colours were broken up and worn as clashing jacket-trouser sets – rusty red with turquoise, jade with mustard. Smith’s fuzzy mohair or colourful blownup-houndstooth patterned jumpers also tapped into the commercial trend for statement jumpers. Photograph: Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
Miuccia Prada said backstage that her latest men’s show was about creating the perfect classics for now, from a short blouson jacket with knitted bottom, to knitwear. Her collection had coherence and spark. Trademark geekery – such as beigey checks, winningly curveball colour combinations, askew shirt collars and untucked shirting – was mixed with classic tailored suiting, some with a teddy-boy feel, and leather. Bare ankles in cropped trousers matched with shoes with heavy treads (these are likely to sell like hot cakes) felt up-to-the-second without looking try-hard. Bravo. Photograph: Victor Virgile/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
Pointed collars. Tech trainers (a collaboration with Adidas). Figurative, patterned tank tops with a 1970s flavour. Askew collars. Shirt cuffs poking out of jumper sleeves. Natty little pins on coats. Yellow. Collarless coats. Boxy thick-stripe T-shirts. Sleeveless coats. Bags tucked under arms. Raf Simons might be creating ball gowns for Dior but for his own menswear line he sent out a collection that was styled to intrigue and inspire but that breaks down into a series of commercial buys and fashion junkie must-haves. Plus, while everyone is exposing ankles, Simons’s trousers fell loosely on to footwear. Smart. Photograph: Victor Virgile/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
Designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli have breathed new life into the Valentino brand since taking over in 2008. This season, they staged their menswear show for the first time in Paris. Capes might not be the kind of thing most men are likely to grab in a dash for the bus, but on a catwalk, among beautifully crafted suiting, they have a certain appeal. Besides, this collection was full of sleek coats, particularly those that featured a heat-bonded leather band across their fronts. Checks, from Prince of Wales suiting to a sleek black-watch tartan jumper, looked modern and precise. Bonus points for the models’ super-neat hair. Photograph: Antonio de Moraes Barros Filho/WireImage
