Latest looks in menswear: all about lines

The latest looks in menswear are all about lines, top designers are saying in Milan.

The line, long under-rated as one of geometry's most basic form, is getting a lot of exposure on the Milan menswear runway.

Designers are embracing stripes of, well, every stripe, and using them as a metaphor of sorts to clean up the line, that is the silhouettes, of the collections presented during Milan Fashion Week, on June 23.

So for next summer, men can expect to be wearing stripes, both fine and bold, along with pulsating, radiating and curving lines, as well as simple checks, all creating optical effects that bely the cleanness of some of the designs. Lines are also being worked into the fabric, in chunky textiles that create an architecture of their own.

Emporio Armani

Giorgio Armani says he has done a wholesale cleanup of looks for his Emporio Armani collection for next spring and summer.

The predominantly black-and-white collection has a strong graphic component, with lines transmitting a sense of energy from the garment, from steady pulses, webs and waves up to full black and white bold stripes. Color makes cameos in contrasting stripes of turquoise and aqua-green.

"After years of doing a little bit of everything, a melange, florals and ethnicity, finally a little cleaning," Armani says.

The silhouette is loose and easy, with pleated trousers or drawstring athletic pants. Silk and cotton shirts loosely cling the frame, and T-shirts, worn under coats, are soft.