Lee Wood laid the seams bare at Dirk Bikkembergs during his second season as its creative director.
The clean collection revealed the construction details that create rhythms with their repetition, from the patchwork trousers to the intarsia knitwear.
Wood said he was inspired by the brutalism architectural movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s that stood against adornment.
"I wanted it to be brutal. I wanted it to be honest. I wanted it to be like men should be," Lee said backstage. "I don't want to see men all pretty and perfect. I think a man should be rugged."
The lines were simple, with neat T-shirts with scooped necks paired with urban patchwork trousers cut from natural fabrics. The cuffs were turned up to reveal the rough seam. Heavy boots and utilitarian sandals anchored the looks.
Suit jackets were worn with shorts that were nearly bloomers in proportion, a fob to summer, while some trousers were festooned with maxi-pockets. Tops, by contrast, were soft, like one that was a patchwork of gold, light blue and white.
While the materials were mostly natural fibers and the color palette based on hues of blue, white and slate gray, the collection closed with flashes of green and Japanese technical fabric.
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YOLO FROM KOREA
Korean designer Munsoo Kwon made his Milan debut in the Armani theater with a collection that contained some measure of autobiography.
The triptych collection includes pieces based on European tailoring, Korean military wear and a series of character looks. The thread that connects them all: The YOLO phenomenon, previously, before the invention of abbreviation-loving social media, known as "You Only Live Once."
The 37-year-old Kwon expresses his whimsy with out-of-proportion cuts: Boyish striped sweaters that are part of his character series are gigantic with wide, trailing arms, dwarfing the wearer.
The military looks are elongated and soft, not your usual regimented rendering. And the tailored outfits are clean and elegant, featuring pinstripe pants with long belts worn with a pajama-inspired top and a trench coat with bell sleeves.
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SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUNNEI
The hallway of an artistic high school was the runway for the Sunnei brand by designers Loris Messina and Simone Rizzo. The occasion: The last day of school.
"For us, this is an expression of total freedom," Rizzo said of the collection.
The looks are more artsty student than beach, even if the striped button-down tops and shorts recalled beach umbrellas. Suits featured boxy jackets and athletic drawstring pants, which could be worn with a plasticized denim overcoat. Footwear included sling-back sneakers.
Oversized sweaters came with matching water bottle holders and T-shirts played on social media with a photograph of Myspace founder Tom Anderson with the slogan "Forever Tom," dating even the young designers of the three-year-old brand.
"We show our lives, our daily existence. We don't refer to the past," Rizzo said.
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DSQUARED2
Dean and Dan Caten, the Canadian twins behind the DSquared2 label, have made their mark on Milan -- most recently with a neon maple leaf on the former distillery where they showed next year's warm weather looks for men and women.
The designers put a jangle in the models' walk with buckled leather straps in neat rows up the sleeves of sweaters, down the legs of trousers and leggings, and across boots.
Hawaiian floral prints were the accent of the season, with floral shirts paired busily with leopard leggings or worn over the trademark Canadian plaid. Painted florals accented leather pants and skirts, and appeared as panel overlays on denim jackets.
Womenswear featured dramatically layered long ruffle tulle skirts that were often paired with simple T-shirts. Men also can indulge in some light ruffles down the front of their tank tops.
The headgear of the season: A military beret over a baseball cap.