Scout Report: Milan Men’s A/W 12-13 Collections

10th OF February 2012

SCOUT looks at the trends going into store and breaks down our favourite looks from the collections. If there was one key message from Milan Men's A/W 2012-13, it was suiting. There was a return to traditional, slightly conservative suiting; plenty of British-style tailoring and an elegant take on military style.

By Tony Bannister
www.scout.com.au

The key collections:

Alexander McQueen

Sarah Burton put a strong emphasis on tailoring, with a bespoke mini-range that will be available through Huntsman of Savile Row. The rest of the collection took inspiration from the original Vanity Fair magazine, offering looks inspired by Regency and Victorian gentlemen and rogues. Some more modern shapes came in ombre-dyed checks and even wild galaxy prints for the label’s rock-star customers. All-in-all, an elegant, slightly sober collection and watch out for key colours: Deep burgundy and oxblood, French navy, charcoal.

Burberry Prorsum

Christopher Bailey offered slim silhouettes and military touches, in a collection called “The Gentlemen”. Proper English gents with their brollies, mixed with country touches: a quilted hunting jacket, a tweed cap, a hand-knit sweater. He introduced a look that I saw all through Milan and Paris: the slim-cut suit topped with oversized outerwear; a bit of a street edge from a giant down jacket or flight jacket. I liked the folksy sweaters with owl and fox motifs, which brought in a softer side.

Key colours I liked were rich forest tones of mocha, forest green, amber and sapphire

Dolce & Gabbana

The designers were influenced by opera, Sicilian families and a sense of the baroque. There was a sense of decadence, reminiscent of a Visconti film, ranging from the 1880s to the late 1970s. The embroidered jackets and coats had an elegant, military feel, worn over charcoal pinstripe suiting or silk pyjamas. The show finished with a parade of formal overcoats, finished off with velvet, astrakhan and brocade.

Gucci

Another decadent, Visconti collection full of brocade, fur, oversized coats and skinny pants and that rich claret that became a key colour of the season. Giannini cited Visconti and 70’s Mitteleuropa; so we got a rich and slightly dark collection of well-bred equestrian pieces, Prussian military jackets, tapestry, jacquard, pony skin and devore velvet with a moody colour palette straight from Visconti’s “Ludwig”.