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Milan. Next winter's Gucci guys are part rocker romantic, part dandy dreamer.

"Tormented poets," creative director Frida Giannini calls them in her show notes, men who have a passion for roses, and are committed to a quest for a personal style.

The overall look of the latest Gucci collection presented Monday, the third day of the Milan menswear preview showings for the winter 2013, is by the designer's own description "Bohemian grunge."

This translates into lots of layering, oversized deconstructed coats, double-breasted blazers, collarless shirts, equestrian style trousers, and lace-up riding boots.

The rose theme appears throughout the collection, from silk prints to woven jacquards, to real roses in the pocket of an evening jacket.

There is room for sportswear in this collection, albeit dandified, with ultra light sheepskin jackets with military detailing over lusciously soft turtleneck cableknit sweaters, paired with pleated riding pants and crocodile boots.

Colors range from browns and grays to deep reds and blues, and the darkest of nighttime black.

By night the Gucci guy turns into a latter day Oscar Wilde in a black velvet tuxedo worn with the new collarless shirt, peaking out of the jacket like a silk evening scarf.

In the accessory department, along with the luxurious riding boots, the contemporary Bohemian can renovate his shoe closet with the new patent leather or velvet slipper with a micro logo horsebit buckle.

Travel bags come in floral printed jacquard velvet or printed antique maps.

For those days our romantic is forced to go to work to be able to fulfill his dreams: Gucci hands him a flat computer size crocodile briefcase with a handle in real horn.

Associated Press