Go Big and Tell the Truth.

Milan Men’s Fashion Week, Fall 2014

MILAN — A woman, looking at the fall men’s shows here, feels cheated. Pullovers are big this season, but a woman would be lucky to find one in the vegetable-tone colors that Massimo Piombo offered, and with the nice touch of extra-wide ribbing, a detail that transformed his Shetlands into something special.

And then there are the fabrics: superfine cashmere, vicuña, wools from Italy, Scotland, France. Mr. Piombo, of Genoa, whose small line (just 50 retail accounts) is under the Kiton umbrella and is sold at Bergdorf Goodman, pointed to a coat in deep brown mohair, its texture a bit like curly lamb. But, despite how much women are willing to invest in fashion — and the coat definitely had presence — there’s an assumption that they don’t see the value in such fabrics.

Actually, most of the fabrics that Mr. Piombo uses come from small family-run mills dedicated to producing for haute couture. It’s just that he sees how well they work in classical men’s wear.

A gulf of imagination also exists between Italy’s luxury giants, like Giorgio Armani and Gucci, and its premium tailoring outfits, notably Kiton and Brioni, a Roman company owned by Kering.

On Tuesday, Mr. Armani seized upon the athletic sexiness popular in Milan. Soft checked jackets hugged the body like a cardigan closed at the waist, so that the torso was more defined than usual. To further emphasize the current look, and discourage weaklings and men with big bottoms, trousers were skinny, with chunky urban footwear.

There has been such a spate of skinny pants. At Gucci, Frida Giannini showed a husky 1960s version, with coats and stiff knits in dusty pastels. In the extreme, though, when done in checks, with matching vest and coat, the results looked like a cross between Beau Brummell and a leprechaun (cue Etro)

Mr. Armani’s warm browns and blues, as well as micro checks, made a good base for his energized silhouette. But, later, in the Kiton showroom, one realized that the Armani palette and fabrics, while no doubt considered, foreclosed dreaming. On one rack alone at Kiton were five or six jackets in different gray checks that produced instant desire. A display of knit ties looked like someone had squeezed out tubes of artist oils.

Of course, it’s not fair to compare Kiton with Armani, which is on a much bigger scale. Another thing: Those Kiton jackets on the rail cost between $5,000 and $7,000, depending on the fabric.

But the fact is that the excitement in European men’s wear is mostly coming from these old-line labels, including Paris-based Berluti, which is owned by LVMH. The reason is elementary, suggested Antonio De Matteis, the chief executive of Kiton: “Men want to understand why they’re wearing something.” And those labels offer more kinds of information that is meaningful to men: fit, construction, quality of materials.

Before the Ermenegildo Zegna show, the company’s chief executive, Gildo Zegna, said that half of the customers for Stefano Pilati’s new premium line were young men. Mr. Pilati’s staging — a tide of handsomely dressed models against a big-city vista — made the point: Think big but say something true. Mr. Pilati showed Zegna’s fabric expertise narrowly and in depth, and made a concerted effort to include sporty looks, like plumped-up outerwear. The effort showed a little. Maybe he should just calm down.

If there is one word for Brendan Mullane’s work for Brioni, it’s content. He gives the appropriate value to everything — the fit, the subtle shading of dark tones, the elegant fabrics — and the effect is graceful, confident. I was less interested in the garments inspired by traditional kimonos, because he didn’t demonstrate what linked these two sophisticated worlds, Rome and ancient Japan, beyond a trip diary made by Brioni’s founder, which he unearthed in the archive.

We’ve grown so used to hip or conceptual runway shows that we’ve stopped questioning what it is they tell us about dressing. It starts to look like a lot of expensive stuff. No content. I had the sense, looking at a number of big-brand shows, that while the clothes were nice enough, the brands were almost abdicating their authority. How do we expand our understanding? With gestures like monochromatic color? Generic footwear? Hey, skinny pants.

No wonder companies like Berluti and Kiton are seeing a surge in business.

There were some interesting pockets of news in Milan. Tomas Maier’s overhaul of a casual silhouette at Bottega Veneta, based on sweatpants (in blends of fine materials), was very persuasive. He engineered the whole look from top to bottom, and he created a relaxed suit (in glen plaid) that conveyed the same attitude.

Missoni is also a must to check out this fall, for its rare combination of wit, comfort and soulful character. The collection displays heaps of integrity, and you will, too, dude. Plus, you can wear sneakers or sandals.

Miuccia Prada paid homage to Pina Bausch and Joseph Beuys, but don’t let the art references or simplified, ‘70s shapes fool you. Ms. Prada may have relatively little to say this season — and that’s intriguing, proof that one of fashion’s most dependable guides may be ready to clean house and seek more meaningful connections to life. Backstage she did use the word “real,” as well as “introspective.”

Donatella Versace’s audience giggled right along with her the other night as she sent out studded chaps, bandanna-print underpants and other leather-bar favorites. It was pure silliness, but, amazingly, she didn’t concede one stud to the mainstream. She kept the work on a high level, something she will need to keep in mind for the women’s side next month

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