Cargo pants and military chinos, tight trousers that leave the ankles bare, elegant Bermudas and vintage jeans are the key leaders in the male wardrobe for Spring / Summer 2011. For a formal, metropolitan look, the trousers have to be slim fit, but not excessively so; the style is that of the 60s with virtually invisible flush-set pockets, small pleats, and a critical length just to the ankle to enhance the accessorised shoe or flip-flop. The hemline is the fundamental detail on which the designers and fashion houses have focussed, offering a multitude of variations, from casual trousers with the bottom rolled up, almost as if to show off the contrasting internal detail of the fabric, to the striped fabric of the cabin boy, so popular on the beaches of Saint Tropez. There are some who even take a pair of scissors home with them with the garment so they can cut the trousers themselves. In fact, rubberised fabric doesn't even need stitching. The colour palette is absolutely clear and goes from completely white to all the shades of blue and khaki to the darkest military green and mud-colour, but always given a wash treatment and an unusual finishing process, so the colour is never uniform, but faded in a modern camouflage pattern. The final effect is that of a more sophisticated garment, while at the same time having an air of artisan about it. Through military trends, informal manages to rediscover vintage styles, but ones that are now enriched with new pockets, reinforcement stitches, buttons and visible labels. But Bermudas and shorts, cult leaders of the season, cannot be left out of Summer 2011. They work for both day and evening wear: in check cotton for the beach and coloured gabardine for the city, worn with a jacket, to leather ones for the evening. There is no shortage of more fun and daring ideas for a cocktail or evening party by the pool. There is a multitude of brightly-coloured prints, that enhance silk trousers, such as those by Ackerman, andEtro and the splattered, psychedelic colours of Cavalli. And finally jeans definitively abandon the low-rise in favour of comfort and a cleaner informality. The historic Wrangler becomes deep blue, but there is also no shortage of almost white, super-faded jeans that are very 70s, while the Lamborghini brand has the Mugello denim stone-washed jeans with yellow stitching. images: more than 800