Color is unequivocally the message from Milan's spring/summer 2005 menswear season. When Calvin Klein, a label once known for its neutral shades, sends out a cool guy in mustard yellow from tank top, through pants to sneakers, you know that color has penetrated the male wardrobe.
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"I took my colors from a book on wrestling and from photographs in India - and I tried to mix them together in a very chic way," said designer Italo Zucchelli who took over from the eponymous Klein last year. The Italian-born designer juiced up a quiet palette and his confident collection played with both color and texture. He layered turquoise and green tank tops, mixed a pink shirt with burgundy pants and made a short raincoat in metallic green. Such "changing" fabrics seem familiar for suits, but they reinforced the message that sheen/shine is a strong trend.
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The rich Calvin Klein shades were set against a quieter backcloth: a beige suit with its linear form outlined as if with white tape; or a rubbery black raincoat with similar effects. A plain perforated shirt, worn with beige pants and sneakers, with tongue but no laces. This all showed the attention to detail that is the mantra of post-minimalism in men's design.
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