Psychedelic colours, ethnic patterns, and bohemian details. That’s what Matthew Williamson splashed out for his summer H&M line for men. It was a literal kaleidoscope that spoke to the past, present, and future of menswear in an extremely wearable context. At the least, I had a rough idea that Williamson would stick to his vibrant best and deliver a piña coladaesque collection that epitomized his signature aesthetic of sprightly prints and colours atop relaxed yet structured feminine pieces.

However, I wasn’t sure how that would translate into menswear. It’s rumoured that the designer is to launch a menswear collection in the near future. Let’s just say if his H&M line is a reflection of what’s to come from Williamson in menswear, then we have a lot to be encouraged by.

It’s a known fact that for affordability sake, the materials used for these capsule collections may not be as choice as what these designers have at their disposal for their primary collection. Even at that, pluses go to Williamson for not watering down his aesthetic (which is exactly what the customer is after from these diffuse collections–no adulteration). For instance, the vibrancy of Williamson shone through in the pink and blue tie-dyed knit sweater that was complemented with a pair of studded jeans in a hot pink hue. To cool things down a notch, Williamson traversed to the other end of the colour wheel and served up some lime green shorts, a summer must-have.

However, Williamson’s strong point was the diverse characters that were reflected in the garments. The neon bright pieces were fit for experimental cool kids strung out on colourful matching; the studded biker detail seen on the navy blue leather jacket brings out the rocker in anyone; and the Copacabana-themed shirt and cream seersucker suit is quintessential rico suave. Interestingly, my earlier comment towards the temporal consonance in the collection can be summed through these three looks. Each speaks to an era that has relatively come, gone or still hanging around on the terraces of what’s in vogue. In that, Williamson allows us to time travel in a sense and easily relive distant personalities that our parents may have embodied in the 60s. Or he provides a presentist escape route to keep things funky fresh with a short-suit or a black blazer with technicolor piping. Following on from the Commes des Garcon’s much raved line for H&M, Williamson, personally, had big shoes to fill and I think he’s done just that with this seminal diffuse line.

There could hardly be a time more topical to launch a business shirt range. Workers across the square mile donned jeans and jumpers last week for fear of being targeted by G20 protesters. The normally, more-often-than-not very dull topic of business attire, unexpectedly found itself in the spot light.

So the celebration a week earlier, of designer business shirt brand Monsieur Baron’s first birthday and lavish launch of the new range at celeb hangout, Kitts in Sloane Square, could hardly have provided more of a contrast. Especially in light of the close city links of the designers behind the brand.

If you haven’t heard of them before, then let me fill you in. Monsieur Baron had been manufacturing shirts for fashion houses including Armani, Gucci, Alain Figaret, Eden Park and Cerruti for 25 years before setting up a label in his own name with son Charles Baron, a convertible bonds trader in Canary Wharf and son-in-law Tristan Lagesse, who formerly worked in reinsurance for Lloyd’s.

The focus of the range is simple – stylish shirts with sharp tailoring. All have the same cut, all buttons are mother of pearl, there’s a choice of 20 different fabrics and each have moveable bones in the collar. But, what makes the range particularly interesting, especially in an age of investment buying is the clever use of nano-technology fabric which allows fabric to breathe, keep its softness and draws water away from the body.

So yes, the subject of business shirts it fairly straightforward. But Monsieur Baron proved it can by sexy too. Their show had the men’s shirts modelled, very successfully I might add, by women. Striped, plain and crisp white shirts were spiced up with the use of shorts, blazers, layering, sequin ties and even by wearing them backwards. I’ll never look at a plain old shirt the same way again. You can view and order the range at www.monsieurbaron.com.

Menswear is such a tricky area to get right. If you stick to the basics you’ll be branded as boring. But if you go creative then you’ll only attract a small client base. Yes, menswear is a limiting area and I expect it’s exciting for designers to try and tackle this challenging market. For autumn/winter 09 Carolyn Massey has found the perfect balance between everyday, wearable clothing and more design driven styles, ideal for the adventurous.

Tailored suits were edgy and the long length blazers made a nice change from the usual casual jacket. Capes and high shine jackets were definitely for the more fashion forward man. Bow ties added personality and strangely sat well against the more post grunge looks.