Dolce and Gabbana got the current round of Italian menswear off to an eye-opening start with a new pair of jeans that make hipster pants look like overalls.

At their Sunday show, which inaugurated five days of preview showings for fall-winter 2005-6, the fun-loving duo paraded Adonis-like models with perfect muscle tone and multiple tattoos, in jeans both distressed and bejeweled, but above all belted way below the belly button.

Attention to the new waistline of the trouser, instantly dubbed the “pubic pants” by the amused fashion crowd, was only detracted by elegant footwear and multiple chains to adorn the ever-so-bare torso.

The sexy jeans are the latest addition to the wardrobe of the contemporary male customer who no longer buys according to a traditional dress code, but enjoys picking and choosing, once a female prerogative.

The fact that Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have understood the pulse of the moment both for men and women is no secret. Their sexy, trend-setting styles had their cash register ringing up sales of more than $916 million last year, marking an almost 30% increase at a moment when many are lamenting a stagnant fashion market.

“You have to listen to them and at times give in to them,” Mr. Dolce said, referring to his male clients. The new Dolce and Gabbana collection offers a 24-hour wardrobe, from the boxer sweat shorts for the pre-office workout to the impeccable three-piece pinstriped banker suit to the velvet silk embroidered tuxedo jacket. Both footwear and leather accessories, like the nifty computer bag, are in luxurious crocodile.

Later Sunday, Donatella Versace presented a man who likes life on the fast track. He prefers conquering the city on a powerful motorcycle, in a jet-black leather jacket with flexible padding at the elbow, matched with leather pants with the same padding at the knees.

When he shows up at the office, he can wear either a slick tight-fitting pinstriped suit or a velvet dinner jacket over pants with golden zipper pockets.

The Jil Sander collection – also presented Sunday – was nice and neat with proper suits and ultra-soft cashmere sweaters all in black, gray, and classic camel. The collection was put together by the Jil Sander menswear designing team after Ms. Sander left the company for the second time in the fall of 2004.

The German-born designer, who founded the company in the 1980s, apparently quit due to company policy disputes with Patrizio Bertelli, CEO for the Prada Group that owns the label.

The most seen style on the first day of showings was the trenchcoat, which for next winter comes in either woolen fabric or leather. Burberry, the most famous of trenchcoat manufacturers, presented a plastic version in its traditional plaid pattern.

The perennial tie debate seems to take a pause this season. Cropped ties peacefully shared the runway limelight with luxurious woolens, more often than not sporting a cozy turtleneck.

The Milan fashion week, during which such prominent names in Italian fashion as Prada, Gucci, Fendi, and Ferre – more than 50 labels in all – present their winter wears in various venues of Italy’s fashion capital, ends Thursday with designer Giorgio Armani’s show in the theater of his Milan headquarters.