Sports mania grips Milan fashion week

UK designer Vivienne Westwood also went with the sporty theme. Picture / Reuters.

MILAN - Men's fashion week kicked off in sporty style on Sunday as Dolce & Gabbana sent muscled gym gods down the catwalk and Prada playfully matched casual tops in primary colours with tight plastic shorts.

Missoni offered a dandyish take on the theme with blazers and Bermuda shorts in pastel pinks, greens and blues, accessorised with boaters and golf bags - think Oscar Wilde gatecrashing sports day at an English boarding school.

The sports mania continued off the catwalk as Dolce & Gabbana handed out soccer books and the fashion pack fretted over catching key World Cup matches.

"We haven't yet decided which hotel room we're going to watch it in," said designer Christopher Bailey after his Burberry Prorsum show, which finished in time for him to see England beat Ecuador in a second round match.

Others were less lucky. At Versace, staff were frantically organising screens to be set up in the foyer for Monday's show, which will clash with the Italy-Australia match.

Buyers liked the emphasis on exercise, which resulted in highly wearable collections for spring/summer 2007.

"I do believe that in our industry there's a move towards casual clothes and performance products -- shirts that absorb perspiration, underwear pieces that control the temperature of the body," Ron Frasch, vice-president at New York luxury retailer Saks Fifth Avenue, told Reuters between the shows.

He saw that tendency reflected in Dolce & Gabbana's super-sporty clothes, but also in a general trend towards classic, simple styles and clean lines.

Dolce & Gabbana's show at first looked like an underwear collection, with bronzed, sculpted models almost bursting out of skimpy white briefs and vests, wearing towels around their necks as if waiting to be called into a boxing ring.

A bombastic soundtrack featuring Vangelis - boxer Henry Maske's favourite - underlined the aggressive work-out mood.

The designers are dressing Italy's football team, and the green, white, red national flag as well as Dolce & Gabbana's own logo-graced hooded sweatshirts, gym bags, and baseball caps.

For the dinner after the victory, there were satin suits in cool greys.

"I thought that Dolce & Gabbana was by far the strongest collection. There was a lot to buy from," said Majed Al Sabah, a Kuwait retailer who also sells in Dubai and Qatar - where booming oil prices are fuelling luxury shopping.

Burberry brought in some physical aggressiveness with military-style rucksacks and foreign legion hats. But a palette of gentle, dusty pastels and sparkly details gave its slim suits and slouchy trousers overall a more relaxed feel.

- REUTERS