Spring / Summer 2011 brings the fresh scent of the white poplin shirt, the main man, par excellence, appearing both at Pitti Uomo and on the catwalks of Milan and Paris. The shirt is no longer the close-fitting shirt of the macho man, but acquires a wearability that is softer in its proportions, so much so that it becomes more like a half-length Moroccan kaftan, like those of Rick Owens and Jean Paul Gaultier. A low, split-neck (at the front) highlighted by pleating, the tunics come with winged sleeve ends and flap pockets. A new detail is in the buttoning at the front of the shirt, which no longer goes all the way down to the bottom, but stops half way so the shirt goes on over the head. The semi-transparent, soft, white cotton, which is above all, light, is decorated with fine arabesque motifs, lace, and tone on tone embroidery. From white to the thousand shades of colours in the desert, and in line with the season's trend in military colours. Khaki, military green, sand beige and mud are the colours of the basic, informal shirts, using textiles that are are always a little bit rough-dyed and creased. The creases or embossing are even more evident in the check shirts to be worn over shorts. The check pattern is interpreted in a thousand different varieties of Madras, of Vichy until the bi-colour picnic effect appeared on the catwalks of Dolce & Gabbana. Even blue represents a colour-trend in all its variants: from the indigo blue of the vintage denim shirt with the mandarin collar of Gianfranco Ferré, to that of the v-neck nurse's uniform presented by Prada. Prints have returned, and in particular the Hawai'ian floral designs of Jil Sander, the camouflage effect of the abstract mirror designs of John Richmond, and the sophisticated paisley georgette shirts of Etro. The shirt for the evening is strictly in a blue iridescent, electric-blue silk, both fascinating and mysterious. images: more than 800