Milan designers consider menswear for the next decade

Milan fashion designers were taking a step back as they consider the import of presenting their first collections of the 2020s.

The last decade marked a blurring in gender roles and also the rise of high-end streetwear.

Anyone looking back at past decades will see how they softly blur one into the other. As seen on runways this season, Milan designers seem to be solidifying the gender-bending trend while maintaining a strong line of masculinity. Streetwear might not fare so well. While high-end sweatshirts, leisure trousers and sneakers did much draw the attention of younger generations, many established designers see it as an assault on luxury that must be held at bay.

A model wears a creation part of the Salvatore Ferragamo men's Fall-Winter 202021 collection, that was presented during the fashion week, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

As designers explore new trends, there was considerable role-playing on runways previewing mostly menswear for Fall/Winter 2020/21.

Highlights from Sunday’s shows:

SALVATORE FERRAGAM DEFINES ‘METAMODERN’ FOR THE NEW DECADE

A model wears a creation part of the Salvatore Ferragamo men's Fall-Winter 202021 collection, that was presented during the fashion week, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

The new Salvatore Ferragamo collection had touches of femininity against a canvas created from six very masculine archetypes.

In one iteration, a softer Japanese surfer trouser combined with relaxed knitwear and lug-sole boots. Soft pastel shirts were worn with suits, some with trousers, some with Bermuda shorts and some with both, layered one over the other. A converted camera bag was carried firmly on one shoulder, like a purse, contrasting with more masculine duffel bags.

Ferragamo’s creative director Paul Andrew said he wanted to appeal to younger generations -- while maintaining an awareness that the Ferragamo brand appeals to consumers of all ages. His archetypes:sailor, surfer, soldier, race car driver, biker and businessman.

A model wears a creation part of the Salvatore Ferragamo men's Fall-Winter 202021 collection, that was presented during the fashion week, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

“I feel like the way that millennials are dressing today, it's much more about mixing these very classic archetypes of men,” Andrew said backstage after the show. “Some of them are masculine, some of them more at ease with their femininity and mixing it all together. ... There were tiny touches of feminine, a little bit in the colors.”

Andrew the collection, titled "Metamodern," had taken a hard turn into the new decade, with a fresh direction, imbuing in menswear “the power held by clothing that is much more relished in womenswear.”

MSGM’S HORROR COLLABORATION WITH DIRECTOR DARIO ARGENTO

Models wear creations part of the Salvatore Ferragamo men's Fall-Winter 202021 collection, that was presented during the fashion week, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

The red leather gloves of a killer. Hazy patterns as if a foreboding forest on a mohair sweater. Bold prints of flesh-eating plants.

For his latest MSGM collection, Massimo Giorgetti collaborated with Italian film director Dario Argento, taking aesthetic queues from the ‘’Master of Horror.’’

‘’What comes out in this collaboration, more than the garments is his love and his passion for beautiful things, absurdly enough,’’ said Giorgetti, who describes himself as a huge horror film fan. Argento ‘’is obsessed with color, from red to black to violet. It was also a learning process on how to create colors.’’

Models wear creations part of the Salvatore Ferragamo men's Fall-Winter 202021 collection, that was presented during the fashion week, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

Argento brought to the table his movie posters, including “Cat O’Nine Tails,” “Phenomena” and “Suspiria,” which became the inspiration for prints. But he also conveyed the notion of a world “that is part good and part bad, part light and part dark,” enveloped in the collection’s mix of classic tailoring and more relaxed looks.

The runway show was held under spooky red lights, with a sing-songy soundtrack from Argento’s films.

The director’s humor comes through in prints of monsters giving their middle fingers. Black denim has been washed and dyed red, to give the effect of being blood-soaked. Simple overcoats have flashes of eerie green and blood red. Printed shirts are layered over each other.

Creative director Paul Andrew, right, accept applause flanked by menswear designer Guillaume Meilland, at the conclusion of the the Salvatore Ferragamo men's Fall-Winter 202021 fashion show, that was presented during the fashion week, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

Models wear creations part of the MSGM men's Fall-Winter 202021 collection, that was presented during the fashion week, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

A model wears a creation part of the MSGM men's Fall-Winter 202021 collection, that was presented during the fashion week, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

Guests arrive to attend the MSGM men's Fall-Winter 202021 fashion show, that was presented during the fashion week, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

Models wear creations part of the MSGM men's Fall-Winter 202021 collection, that was presented during the fashion week, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

A model wears a creation part of the MSGM men's Fall-Winter 202021 collection, that was presented during the fashion week, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

Models wear creations part of the MSGM men's Fall-Winter 202021 collection, that was presented during the fashion week, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

A model wears a creation part of the MSGM men's Fall-Winter 202021 collection, that was presented during the fashion week, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)