Gucci is by no means the only house offering up a suave

Gucci is by no means the only house offering up a suave, ’70s sexuality, but the sharp edge of the designer Frida Giannini’s always rock-centric viewpoint means those wide lapels and flared pant legs have a cultural relevance centered in the here and now. It’s the small details that avoid the campy, retro danger zone, and these suits have them: you get that loungey, jet-set cool without feeling like a throwback.

Slick, patterned leather pants with a double-breasted? A trench belted by a studded harness? Not for everyone, maybe, but these are looks the Versace man is definitely after. And Donatella Versace, along with her young creative director, Martyn Bal, delivers. As with Gucci, the deftness of touch keeps this sort of overtness somewhere near the realm of practicality.

The bold pattern is not an easy proposition for most men. And Missoni is famous for its woven examples of just that. But somehow this collection stayed true to that heritage in an exciting, functional way. When color and pattern appeared, they did so often subtly, as flecks in a cable knit or as a faint pattern showing through finely woven fabric. The emphasis was on quietly layered, earthy pieces that, despite sometimes being stacked two or three deep (with a scarf and hat to boot), remained modern and unfussy, like you could just toss them on.

Pringle took its own soft woolen knits and imagined them on someone pretty tough — a vigilante roaming the heather, perhaps. In men’s wear, when you push a fantasy and find yourself still producing a wearable collection, it’s a very good sign. The leather pants, beat up and patched together, were pretty easy to imagine a lot of guys actually wearing — seriously. Same for the riding pants with leather knee patches. Equestrian is a common reference, often even a joke, but these were legitimately cool. Sadly, all this was partly marred by a distasteful opening film shot by Walter Pfeiffer.