Illustration by C. Charles/for south florida times

 

MILAN (AP) — Tactile fashion is setting the trend on Sunday, the second day of Milan Fashion Week previews for next autumn and winter menswear.

Designers are luxuriating in mohair, cashmere and heavy knits, enveloping men in rich, luxurious knitwear, including oversized scarves, chunky sweaters and slumping caps. Dark shades dominate, with some flashes of pink, purple and red offering contrast and whimsy.

Here are some highlights:

Enchanting images

Massimiliano Giornetti wraps his looks for Salvatore Ferragamo in humungous scarves _ signaling comfort chic, Milan’s overriding message for next winter.

The underlying charm in the Ferragamo menswear collection came from the animal motifs that created a sense of enchantment. Geese fly placidly across the back of a suit jacket, announcing winter’s arrival. A shaggy buffalo peers watchfully from the side of a plaid double-breasted jacket or the front of a pullover. A zebra arches gracefully across the back of a peacoat, and a pink dragon fly is embroidered on a suit jacket sleeve.

The creatures, embedded in the garments, gave the collection an artistic, narrative flair. In keeping with the theme, bronze and horn claws become buckles and brooches.

Bottega Veneta

A soft corduroy jacket exemplifies the sort of lived-in looks at the heart of Bottega Veneta’s collection for next autumn and winter. The jacket comes in surprising and pleasing shades of purple, dusty rose and green and is layered over knitwear and worn with baggy elastic-waist trousers.

Creative director Tomas Maier says the collection “is not about meticulous dressing, everything matching or looking brand new.” In other words, it’s about personal style, creating unique looks to populate a wardrobe.

Color contrast gives it all spark: purple against rust; Kelly green under olive; salmon pink with camel.

Mohair mop

Alessandro Dall’Acqua’s fuzzy mohair skullcap, the key accessory for his latest No. 21 collection, is bound to be an instant hit next winter — providing both warmth and slumped-down style.

Dall’Acqua, presenting the third collection of his No. 21 line named for his lucky number and birthday, found comfort in mohair, which besides caps also turned up as bulky sweaters, featuring diamond, argyle or arching mermaid patterns, and socks worn under velvet sandals.

The color palate was blue and black, with just a flash of yellow.

Swat-team chic

There was a SWAT team chic uniform quality to the Calvin Klein collection for next year.

Italo Zucchelli’s tone-on-tone outfits leaned toward an austere gray, black and blue palate, often in pebbled, cheetah prints. While there were tailored suits, the uniform vibe came through most strongly in the short-waisted jackets with a plethora of pockets worn with correspondingly high-waist trousers. Jackboots and leather baseball caps completed the uniform — for which there was also an optional rain poncho.

Zucchelli continued his exploration of high-tech fabrics, creating oversized trousers and cropped bomber jackets in vinyl and knitting Fair isle sweaters from an Alpaca/nylon mesh.