When you thumb through a magazine or newspaper, what seduces you? Is it the promise by a bank that they know how you like to be spoken to, that they know how you live and that if you bring them your business you’re going to be friends for life? Is it the reassuring image from an insurance company that even in the stormiest of seas, your cargo/ship/life is in safe hands?

When it comes to fashion and luxury goods images, do you want the glossy pages to mirror a slightly improved version of you? Are you more attracted by a model with whom you’d like to spend an extra-long weekend? Or are you drawn to a clothing brand because the dazzling spread offers the promise of a life you just might be able to lead if you buy their too low-cut trousers and bag of the season? I found myself asking these and many other questions on Monday afternoon while sitting at various shows during Milan’s men’s fashion week (see Sabbatical chic).