Midriff-baring crop tops are one of the hottest trends this summer…for women. Everyone from Lindsay Lohan to Jennifer Lopez are wearing them. But now, they've cropped up where we least expected: on the men's spring runways in Milan. Calvin Klein sent an athletic collection down the runway, which featured bright suits, sporty stripes—and man midriff! Angular jackets and T-shirts were cut up-to-there, giving the audience an eyeful. Crop top aficionado Richard Simmons would be proud.
Daniele Schiavello, Catwalking / Getty Images
When it came to color this time around, it was the bolder the better. Several designers in Milan turned heads with strong colors and loud prints. At Roberto Cavalli, pants came painted with colorful palm fronds and paired with equally bright jackets, Sarah Burton successfully channeled bright ninja-cool for her debut collection for Alexander McQueen, and electric ribbed sweaters looked clean yet vibrant at Prada. And if you're going bright, go blue: as Suzy Menkes remarked, several collections had "Tones of blue from pale, washed denim to a zingly, 'Yves Klein.'"
Antonio Calanni / AP Photo; Giuseppe Aresu / AP Photo; Chris Moore, Catwalking / Getty Images
Sure, they look great on Miley Cyrus—but jeggings on a man? The uber-tight stepchild of jeans and leggings became popular with ladies this year and now, defying all logic (and circulation) have made their way into menswear as well. (Fashionista helpfully pointed out man-jeggings can simply be labeled "meggings.") Burberry went for liquid leather pants, and the boys at Versace made a show-stopping statement wearing bright red meggings.
Chris Moore, Catwalking / Gett Images; Antonio Calanni / AP Photo
Bad boys are back this season: Giorgio Armani's spring collection for Emporio Armani transformed into an S&M den as tough guys in leather and chains paraded down the runway while video of "Alejandro" (Armani's collaboration with Lady Gaga and Steven Klein) flashed onscreen. And it seems that the inspiration went both ways: each look on his runway was futuristic and vaguely Riefenstahlian. A similar vibe tore down the runway at Burberry, where biker jackets and studded leather ushered in an edgy new form of cool.
Antonio Calanni / AP Photo; Giuseppe Aresu / AP Photo
Man sandals clomped down nearly every runway this year. And they took a variety of forms: sleek and simple with shorts at Salvatore Ferragamo, au naturel at Dolce & Gabbana, where they were made of hemp and rope, and a cork-bottomed version at Burberry. Lesson number one: to rock a mandal, you need a great man-pedicure, er, manicure.
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Could shirts really be over? Several designers, such as Dolce & Gabbana, sent hirsute gents down the runway in nothing but pairs of drawstring shorts. If you are, however, the kind of person that prefers covering up, this season your shirt should be light, airy, and preferably see-through. Dolce & Gabbana showed a series of dark mesh pieces, Burberry featured thin crochet sweaters, and Etro translated its signature paisley print into delicate dress shirts.
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If you're going to have a sweater or a jacket that flops open next spring, you'll need a big necklace to go with it. Men's chains were increasingly inventive in Milan: Vivienne Westwood affixed pendants with colored carabiners and Etro paired suits with chains and breezy ascots. Male jewelry took an erotic turn at Armani, where, as The New York Times' Guy Trebay put it, the "beefcake parade" wore "slave chains."
Antonio Calanni / AP Photo (2)
Vests came in every shape and form in Milan, recalling everyone from Mark Twain to the Village People. At John Varvatos and Dolce & Gabbana, vests were muted and high cut; Marc Jacobs showed a surprisingly sober biker vest over a long-sleeved T-shirt. At Burberry, however, they were studded and fierce, and at Vivienne Westwood, a denim vest was paired with paint-splattered jeans, a handful of pins, and a woman's wig.
Daniele Schiavello, Catwalking / Getty Images; Karl Prouse, Catwalking / Getty Images
Next spring, gentlemen can look chic even before getting dressed for the day: pajamas blanketed runways in various forms in Milan. Dolce & Gabbana stayed true to classic loungewear with striped robes and black and white sets, while Ferragamo gave us another reason to hit the snooze alarm by mixing sleepwear-inspired pieces with jackets and pants.
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There may not have been any polka-dot bikinis this season, but men in Milan rocked every other kind of Speedo. Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, in honor of the fashion house's 20th anniversary, debuted a series of boy-shorts in a classic nautical print. Meanwhile, the boys at Bottega Veneta, with their tight military-style briefs, looked like they were attending a pool party at an army base. And Vivienne Westwood sent her men down the runway in children's wigs and a series of printed silk underwear that would be racy even for women.
Giuseppe Aresu / AP Photo; Karl Prouse, Catwalking / Getty Images
