The sensitive swagger
Pass the Courvoisier. Tom Ford began his farewell tour in Milan last week with rhinestone-thonged pole dancers, a thumping soundtrack and a collection for Gucci with playboys in mind. It included his signature ultra-tight trousers, white mink jackets, crocodile loafers and geometric patterned silk tuxedo jackets. Ford raised a glass when he took his runway bow and the audience gave him a standing ovation. There were even a few tears. (His final collection for the Gucci Group will be the Yves Saint Laurent women’s ready-to-wear presented in Paris this March.)
On other runways, designers channeled their metrosexual sides. Alexander McQueen, who also works under the umbrella of the Gucci Group and is widely rumored to be taking over the top spot at YSL after Ford leaves, presented his first collection of menswear, with exquisitely tailored paper-thin leather coats, gray denim trousers and velvet jackets. He got his start making bespoke suits for Prince Charles and other royals on Savile Row, where, he once said, he stitched naughty sayings into the linings of jackets.
Ralph Lauren, who’s never been afraid to pair pink and green, offered a more feminized version of his rugged look with cargo pants tucked into moccasin boots and a chunky knit vest under a red check jacket, worn with a jaunty Kelly green plaid muffler.
Layering turtlenecks under suit jackets, Dolce & Gabbana evoked the late Marcello Mastroianni, whose role in the Fellini film “La Dolce Vita” embodied a way of life devoted to bittersweet pleasure.
Valentino answered decades of his divine fire engine red gowns with an equally stunning red suit that looks classy, not Mack Daddy.
Calvin Klein, who sold his company to shirt-makers Phillips-Van Heusen last year, sat in the audience as his successor, designer Italo Zuchelli, walked in the shoes of the inventor of clean-cut design. The collection was more about sportswear than transgender philosophy, but the long-fringed scarves -- a trend at many of shows -- added a tender touch.
At Giorgio Armani, the winter collection centered around the new “George” jacket, subtly padded, hinting at power, but with soft lines and a sweaterlike shape lending a feminine feel.
The Prada collection -- purposely wrinkled, faded and stained -- might cause some to suggest a trip to the cleaners. But the playful robot T-shirts could be just the thing for the new space race.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
