Prada and Gucci differ on how to dress a man

Guys dressing gals is nothing new. Most designers are men. But when the tables are turned for menswear, get ready for surprises.

Italian designers Miuccia Prada and Gucci’s Frida Giannini – who fall into the rare category of women who design both the men and women’s’ lines for their labels - could not have more different ideas on the subject for the Spring-Summer 2009.

The Prada punk and the Gucci guy have little in common. That the music as a starter.

Prada sent out theatrically made-up youths, all but tiptoeing down a wooden runway as classical music played in the background during her show Sunday night. The Gucci man on Monday, however, sauntered down a mirrored runway to blaring rock music.

The two were presenting during four days of menswear preview collections on the Milan runway.

Prada’s idea of how a fellow should dress is more conceptual than real, with her latest collection a toss up between a ballerino and a minimalist bum.

The Prada boy does own a suit, albeit cut so close to the body it looks outgrown. But his preferred style is a silk duster jacket worn loosely off the shoulder, held up by a strap around the neck. His hairless chest peers out underneath. The styles come in de rigeur variations of gray, brown and navy.

In the casual department, Prada continues her experimentation begun during winter women’s wear, with underwear as outer wear. Polo shirts and undershirts often worn one over the other are long enough to double as dresses. Boxer shorts, silk knee-socks and lace-up leather shoes complete the willfully disheveled look. Here the color scheme ranges from black to lingerie beige.

Giannini has her new low Gucci boots firmly on the ground. Her spring-summer collection presented in the theater of a downtown Milan hotel, is all about a fun-filled adventure through the tropics. The designer says she was inspired by what she calls ‘the irreverent look’ of MGMT, a Brooklyn-based indie band.

Here edgy upbeat styles - cashmere cardigans, leather biker jackets, surfer shorts and silk evening suits - are spiffed up by floral embroidery and rocker graffiti prints.

Tropical motifs play a huge role in the collection becoming the print of a shirt or the tone on tone embroidery on the back of a silk dinner jacket. Colors are bright, ranging from turquoise to amethyst to all-white for evening.

The Gucci man on the go sports a crocodile blue travel bag, classic tasseled loafers and a showy necklace with a colorful parrot pendant. Printed silk pajamas - a style favored by many designers showing this round - takes care of his at home time.

Prada launched her latest men’s fragrance at an after-show cocktail party at the show venue Sunday. Gucci upped the perfume ante with an exclusive dinner followed by a mega party for 800 guests planned for Monday night. Actor James Franco, the star of the perfume’s advertising campaign, is the guest of honor.

Designer Tom Ford, for 10 years Gucci’s golden boy and the man who started Giannini on her career with the company, was also having a party Monday night to celebrate the opening of his Tom Ford menswear boutique in downtown Milan. The four-floor space resembles a house rather than a store. 

“I wanted it to feel like a home, my home,” the Texan-born designer said as he took reporters on a tour Monday morning. (AP)