MILAN, Italy, Jan 13, 2008 (AFP) - Last year's classic suits shifted into lower gear as the menswear collections for next winter hit the catwalks of Milan with decidedly deconstructed touches.

Creation of Bottega Veneta fall-winter 2008/2009 Photo : Damien Meyer/AFP

Miuccia Prada, rewriting the rules again, let a second red collar rest like a necklace over a sombre vest in her Sunday show.

She also unveiled a shirt with a back opening held together with oversized elastic bands, a dickie reaching to the mid-torso to replace the traditional sleeveless cardigan, and a funny sort of chastity belt worn under low-slung trousers, fastened in the small of the back.

Ties were nowhere to be seen. Instead Prada proposed a rounded triangle of cloth at the neck, while a pair of cigarette trousers was accessorised by a pleated miniskirt.

Meanwhile British designer Alexander McQueen found himself somewhere between Mongolia and Latin America, revisiting Western standards by applying heavy embroidery to the collar and sleeves of an austere suit jacket.

The same jacket reappeared later under an enormous lace-trimmed poncho.

Under an outsized fur chapka, a white shirt lost itself in its own material, resembling a straitjacket, while a grey wool suit jacket was duplicated strangely on a shoulder.

Creation of Antonio Marras fall-winter 2008/2009 Photo : Giuseppe Cacace/AFP

Antonio Marras of Sardinia offered narrow vests and dangerously shortened trousers drowning under an extra-long cardigan splashed with turquoise.

British "queen of punk" Vivienne Westwood, eccentric as ever, decked out her models in golden or lime green kilts over large purple shoes, or Tarzan-style suede tunics, baggy desert pants and grandfather's trousers held up by braces.

Creation of Vivienne Westwood fall-winter 2008/2009 Photo : Giuseppe Cacace/AFP

The classic suit jackets that appeared had giant handkerchiefs spilling out of the lapel pocket or a collar held closed by a leather strap.

Westwood's footwear for next winter features raspberry boots cinched with black or moccasins tattooed with a rose, while headgear includes masks suggesting ninjas roaming the urban jungle.

Creation of Vivienne Westwood fall-winter 2008/2009 Photo : Giuseppe Cacace/AFP

Equally playful and off-centre, the house of Frankie Morello sent muscular dancers to cavort on scaffolding above the catwalk as models strutted among wheelbarrows and bags of cement, wearing hard hats and work boots.

Maurizio Modica and Pierfrancesco Gigliotti, who this year mark a decade in the business, pulled a pair of gym shorts over classic trousers and swamped a sober suit jacket with an oversized fluorescent yellow or pink sweater, or flaunted a torso visible under a tiny wool suit jacket.

Creation of Bottega Veneta fall-winter 2008/2009 - Photo : Damien Meyer/AFP

Bottega Veneta opted for a pair of extra-baggy pants under a classic suit jacket, the cuffs bunched over the shoes.

By Katia Dolmadjian