At Milan's Fall Shows, the Clothes Go Marching On (The New York Times)

War is evil, but historically it has also been the engine of innovation, a fact most obviously true of technology although not necessarily less so when it comes to fashion.

The flaming gunpowder arrows ("flying fire") that Song dynasty warriors loosed on invading Mongols were early versions of the Pentagon's drones. The trench coats, Eisenhower jackets and jumpsuits produced to outfit soldiers in different wars and divergent eras are still very much with us — or they were throughout the last four days, when designers showing men's wear for fall seemed to have war on their subconscious minds.