Summertime, and the Milan menswear catwalk livin' is easy

Classic styles with a relaxed feel permeated Milan runways on Sunday, the second day of menswear previews for next spring and summer.

Bottega Veneta, Ferragamo and Emporio Armani showed updated versions of the well-tailored summer silhouette, easy to wear and easy to pack.

Bottega Veneta and Armani both played with layers and ultralight fabrics. Ferragamo trotted out well-worn raffia hats and derby shoes, echoing a 1930s artistic look, and high-waisted trousers that are emerging as a trend for next summer.

Less beholden to tradition were Prada and Vivienne Westwood. Minimalist Prada allowed herself to have fun, seeking inspiration in golf, of all things. What emerges is a colourful, upbeat pastiche that works on and off the golf course.

Britain's Vivienne Westwood, thinking ahead to the 2012 Olympic Games in London, presented whacky T-shirts printed with Olympic icons, fanciful laurel wreaths and golden Greek sandals.

Prada: Golf inspired Prada's collection.

The motif, designer Miuccia Prada said, allowed her to merge ideas and cultures.

The collection was perfectly balanced, featuring whimsical comic book figures on shirts, trousers and jackets. Some trousers showed a miniature golfing tableau. A jacket was printed with musical figures.

The backbone of the collection came in the well-tailored jackets, trousers and sweaters in neutral colours that became the blank canvas for Prada's whimsy.

Ferragamo

Massimiliano Giornetti, the new creative director for the steeped-in-tradition Ferragamo label, inspired by the compelling nonchalance of a 1930s artist — Pablo Picasso fits the picture — creates a wardrobe which is elegant but never stuffy.

His summer man sports a double-breasted suit with a shirt in the same material and high-waisted trousers with pleats. He strolls through life wearing a frayed raffia hat, vintage shades, and classic Derby shoes that allow him to escape into his romantic world.

Bottega Veneta

Though dressed in rumpled suits and clutching soft colourful leather bags, the Bottega Veneta man is no slouch.

The collection contained pattern upon pattern in light, easy-to-wear fabrics that give the impression of endless possibilities, including business meeting, pool-side party, or a seaside dash. Colours were deep tourmaline blue, chocolate and indigo, set off by pewter or beige.

Suits with mandarin collars and short waistbands give the appearance of a single piece, in another era a jump suit. Think airplane mechanic, first class.

Vivienne Westwood

Vivienne Westwood is gearing up for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

T-shirts were emblazoned with gold-embossed Olympic torches, iconic Greek athletic figures and printed Olympic medals draped around the neckline. They were worn with shorts, in pinstripes or Union Jack red, white and blue, with golden Greco-style sandals or bright red penny-loafers accompanied by knee-socks.

Emporio Armani

The Emporio Armani collection was titled Lightness. It could just as aptly have been called Motion.

From the double-darted trousers, to the thin ties, the long loopy belts, the lightweight T-shirts and the long, open jackets, everything flowed in a gentle whisper.

Suits were layered with loose-knit cardigans on top of ultra-light T-shirts. Loose long jackets were nearly see-through. The colour scheme was sober and neutral in greys, putty and blue. Missing from the runway: shorts.

Summertime, and the Viewing Is Easy?

For television programmers, the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer are not so lazy anymore. Broadcast networks as well as cable channels now fill their summertime schedules with new episodes of shows during what was for many years a no-viewer’s land of reruns.

One cable channel, Bravo, has been particularly aggressive in staking a claim to audiences during the warm-weather weeks. Last year, Bravo introduced a promotional campaign under the umbrella theme “Summer by Bravo,” which presented stars of its series sharing a night out at a pool party atop the roof of a high-rise.

“Summer by Bravo” has returned for 2011, this time bringing the Bravo-lebrities — as the channel calls the stars of its reality shows — to the country rather than the city.

The new campaign is set at a (make-believe) summer camp called Camp by Bravo, where more than 20 of the channel’s personalities arrive by school bus before they begin to mix, mingle and get into mischief.

The campaign features, among others, Tabatha Coffey of “Tabatha’s Salon Takeover,” Andy Cohen of “Watch What Happens: Live,” Kara DioGuardi of “Platinum Hit,” Rocco DiSpirito of “Rocco’s Dinner Party,” Bethenny Frankel of “Bethenny Ever After,” Kathy Griffin of “My Life on the D-List,” Teresa Giudice and Caroline Manzo of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey,” Padma Lakshmi of “Top Chef,” Jeff Lewis of “Flipping Out” and Chris March of “Mad Fashion.”

The Britney Spears song “I Wanna Go” provides the soundtrack for the campaign, just as many a pop or rock tune has provided the soundtrack to a summer’s worth of memories. (The Macy Gray song “Kissed It” was used for the 2010 campaign.)

The goal of the campaign is twofold. One goal is to burnish the brand image of Bravo, part of the Bravo Media unit of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, part of the NBCUniversal division of Comcast.

The other goal is to promote the Bravo programming line-up for summer 2011, which includes new series like “Mad Fashion,” “Platinum Hit” and “Rocco’s Dinner Party” as well as returning series like “Flipping Out,” “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” and “The Real Housewives of New York City.”

The campaign includes commercials, which are being shown on Bravo, of course, as well as in movie theaters and on YouTube.

There is content on a section of the Bravo Web site, which can also be accessed through a mobile site. The content includes video clips and e-cards styled like postcards from summer camp.

The campaign also has a presence in social media Like Facebook and Twitter.

Bravo is not the first channel or network to bring the stars of various shows together for promotional purposes.

For instance, in 2009, ABC ran commercials that showed cast members of series like “Dancing With the Stars,” “Desperate Housewives” and “Grey’s Anatomy” cohabiting in a house that had mailboxes out front decorated with the logos of each show.

The idea of the ABC campaign was to bring to life the idea that, as a network slogan put it, “your favorite shows live here.”

NBC tried a more literal version of the concept in the fall of 1964 with “90 Bristol Court,” an apartment complex with initials that, in a bit of a wink-wink gesture, spelled out “N-B-C.”

The premise of “90 Bristol Court” was to run three 30-minute sitcoms, one after the other, on Monday nights from 7:30 to 9 p.m. They were all set in the same complex, although each show was a separate series with its own title.

Bravo is not likely to schedule a series called “Camp by Bravo” anytime soon — possibly because so many of its shows already reflect a campy sensibility.

But the campaign is more than a team-building exercise for the channel’s featured personalities.

In a study that was conducted for Bravo about last year’s “Summer by Bravo” campaign, one in three people who said they saw the ads agreed the ads directly caused them to sample one or more new shows on the channel.

“Last summer, we were introducing a phenomenal amount of programming,” says Trez Thomas, vice president for brand strategy and creative director at Bravo Media in New York.