Shirts so tight they give men a decent cleavage

This is the best-dressed city in the world, where the policemen look like models and the barmen look like bankers. But if the style on Milan's streets is chic but masculine, it is an entirely different story on the catwalk, where gender confusion is the order of the day.

This is the best-dressed city in the world, where the policemen look like models and the barmen look like bankers. But if the style on Milan's streets is chic but masculine, it is an entirely different story on the catwalk, where gender confusion is the order of the day.

Dolce & Gabbana kicked off the spring/summer 2001 collections yesterday in the boiling heat, with the temperature nudging 30C. The design duo offered white laced shirts, silk trousers, pale pink suits adorned with brooches and diamante flip-flops - not the most macho of outfits.

The impeccable men's suits for which they are known had shrunk, producing curves at waists that were stick thin, piped with satin and adorned with gold chain belts. They left no room at all - the silk shirts were so tight they produced a cleavage. The less said about the liquid black swimming trunks the better.

The jeans-and-trainers sort would run a mile from the emerald-encrusted jackets or tiger-print trousers. The only thing missing was a pair of dangly earrings.

It was the same at the Vivienne Westwood show. A stripy knitted dress for the weekend? Or a pair of harlequin boxer shorts worn with knee-high socks for the gym? The male models, draped in bellowing chiffon scarves, wore straw hats with bows on them and carried shopping bags.