Democratic presidential candidate Sen Barack Obama - File

MILAN, Italy (AP)

The latest 'first' for Barack Obama comes off the Milan runway.

Calling the US presidential hopeful "the man of the moment", Donatella Versace dedicated her spring-summer 2009 collection, presented Saturday evening, to Obama, creating a style she said was designed for "a relaxed man who doesn't need to flex muscles to show he has power".

Chatting with reporters in the cool of the garden of her private palazzo in downtown Milan at an after-show dinner party, the designer also had some fashion tips for the campaign trail. "I would get rid of the tie and jazz up the shirt," she said.

In fact, there were no ties in Donatella's latest show, and shirts under jackets were either super easy, with rolled up sleeves, or replaced by a silk T-shirt.

The new Versace suit has a structured jacket softened by a double lapel or no lapel at all and slim trousers with slick techno-fabric sheen. Crazy zigzags break up the monotony of pinstripes and checks, while the pastel palette gives the collection a warm summer feel.

Sitting in the front row, actor Rupert Everett applauded enthusiastically, showing that even if it was not dedicated to him, he found the collection right up his alley.

Overall, this round of 'moda Milanese' menswear preview collections, which ends tomorrow, promises to be all about chilling out, a refreshing thought in a Milan in the grip of the summer's first heat wave.

The relaxed feel of the collections is epitomised by the return of the unlined jacket, which, when coupled with wide loose trousers, creates a casual, yet elegant, summer suit.

A model wears a creation by Versace men's spring/summer 2009 fashion collection. Italian designer Donatella Versace at the end of Versace men's spring/summer 2009 fashion collection. - (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)