In England, we are still hoping for some vestiges of summer 2010. Here in Milan, some of the world's leading menswear designers are already predicting what the men in our lives could be wearing for summer next year.
The spring/summer 2011 season kicked off on Saturday with a virtuoso show staged by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, the Italian designer duo whose eponymous menswear brand is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
The collection played out to a live performance by the singer Annie Lennox, resplendent in a gigantic black crinoline gown (the only piece of womenswear on the catwalk), and seated at a grand piano.
A front row line-up of Hollywood celebrities, including the Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman, Matthew McConaughey, and Rachel Weisz, watched as a battalion of 53 male models came down the catwalk at the Dolce & Gabbana-owned Metropole theatre - where the likes of Maria Callas once sang - to the haunting strains of Lennox's No More I Love Yous.
Among the models were the Dolce & Gabbana veteran, Tony Ward, a onetime boyfriend of Madonna in the 1990's, and the Billericay, Essex-born hunk David Gandy, currently the face of the brand's "Light Blue" after-shave.
The theme of the collection was "Sicilian Sensuality", an inspiration worked with relaxed tailoring, sportswear and knits in a palette of white and beige, with chocolate and black.
The lighter palette was particularly appropriate as Lennox moved into a rousing rendition of Procol Harum's Whiter Shade of Pale. Unlined jackets in sand and ivory linen were worn with corsair-style trousers, rolled-up at the ankle, tied at the waist with rope, and accessorized with peasants' rope sandals.
Cream silk or cotton jackets, waistcoats and shorts were next summer's answer to the three-piece suit.
Blouson jackets came in lattice-weave suede in cappuccino shades, and toffee-coloured, towelling robes were worn with 1970's, retro-look striped, belted trunks and jerseys.
The finale featured all 53 models in serried ranks, in black, single-breasted suits, white shirts and skinny black ties, just the sort of tailoring which Morgan Freeman said reminded him of his early lessons in sartorial workmanship from his grandmother.
"She was a master seamstress in Arkansas and Mississippi," he said.
The Milan menswear season continued with the spring/summer 2011 collections by England's Christopher Bailey for the British heritage brand, Burberry, which was inspired by bikers; Versace; and the American designer, John Varvatos.
The season continues until next Tuesday with showings by major menswear brands including Emporio Armani, Gucci, Roberto Cavalli, Prada and Vivienne Westwood.
Logo de la casa Dolce & Gabbana.

Los diseñadores de moda Domenico Dolce y Stefano Gabbana, mentes creativas de la marca Dolce & Gabbana dieron esta noche la fiesta por el vigésimo aniversario de la marca en el ''Palazzo Marino''.

Dentro del festejo, se llevo a cabo un particular diseño de modas, ya que en lugar de emplear modelos humanos en una «''pasarela''», los diseñadores optaron por emplear fotografías de estos y que eran mostradas en el dispositivo electrónico "iPad".

Esta servirá como antesala de la exhibición que se dará como conmemoración por los 20 años de la marca.