Alessandro Dell'Acqua

Alessandro Dell'Acqua was keen to stand apart from Milan's appetite for scuba stylings this season—surf's up in Lombardy? There's a riposte to anyone who's ever doubted the essential surreality of fashion—he could easily own the notion. It's not just the way his name translates; it's also because the second skin of scuba is so close to his own body-conscious ethos. In this collection, that consciousness was most obvious in the sheer, flesh-toned items made from something called "non-run lingerie jersey," which he used as a translucent veil over a white shirt, or as a sinuous tee. Dell'Acqua's pairing of such translucence with sharply tailored pieces has always been the signature of his womenswear. It's a strong, sexy proposition, so why didn't he make more of it for his men? There was something curiously tentative about the presentation, which was a shame when there were so many little details that deserved appreciation: the diving-suit zips, the deep-sea mesh that added an odd but appealing overlay to shoes, the mercifully judicious use of the fluoro highlights that are another of the season's big deals in Milan.