At a London Fashion Week Men's characterised by gloom, disappointment and more than a hint of fatigue, it fell to the grand dame of punk, Vivienne Westwood, to generate some forward momentum. It was Westwood's first London runway show in decades – she has spent many years showing her collections in Paris and Milan – and it closed the four-day event on a much-needed high.

This was always going to be a tough men's season in London. Blockbuster brands Alexander McQueen and Burberry were both absent this time around – the former moved its men's show to Milan while the latter has decided to showcase its men's clothes during the mostly female London Fashion Week in February.

Like many other top-tier brands, Burberry and McQueen are grappling with existential questions this year. The rise of the Asian consumer and headwinds in traditional markets like the UK and North America are causing many luxury houses to adjust their geographical priorities. Concurrently, the blurring of gender boundaries in popular culture is aiding the rise of unisex collections. All this has left the keepers of the traditional (and binary) fashion calendar scrambling to keep pace.

Without Burberry and McQueen, many of the celebrities who usually fill the front rows of London Men's opted to stay away. Meanwhile, the spectre of Brexit – which some fear will severely damage the British fashion industry – loomed large as the pound sterling continued its downward slide. A week of Tube strikes and rain in the British capital compounded the sense that some greater disaster might be imminent.

So Westwood's show, which featured clothes designed by her romantic partner Andreas Kronthaler, served to affirm the event's legitimacy – even if that wasn't exactly what the fashion icon herself intended. According to Westwood, the move back to London catwalks is rooted in efficiency: her operations are based in Britain, so debuting her collections in London from now on makes financial and environmental sense. Other high-fashion houses, she told reporters, would be wise to follow her lead.

Kronthaler's clothes, which were all designated unisex and modelled by men and women, conjured memories of exploring a fabulous aunt or uncle's closet as a child. There were slim sweaters that fell almost to the ankle, boxy suit jackets worn by bare-legged models and frothy skirts that screamed confidence. The models were adorned in face paint, bandannas and makeshift crowns, adding to the sense of dress-up. It was an escapist collection for troubling times, and the overall effect was both energising and reassuring.

Other collections in London felt like less than the sum of their parts. Critics' favourite J.W. Anderson showed a collection of oversized sweaters and outerwear, much of it knitted, which he told reporters was intended to be "cosy and deeply protective". Some of it, like a billowing orange cardigan with tassels that brushed the floor, looked exceedingly comfortable but seemed best suited to a rainy evening in front of the television.

Craig Green, another feted British designer, riffed on the idea of nautical clothing, debuting striking ensembles that referenced British fishermen, old-fashioned deep-sea diving suits and puffy wilderness wear. Green's ambitious use of disparate fabrics and colours gave the collection a scattershot feel.

Grace Wales Bonner, a young Central Saint Martins graduate and winner of the 2016 LVMH Prize, made variety the key theme of her show, sending out a fast and furious array of garments representative of different cultures. Although many of her individual looks were arresting – particularly a thin robe crafted from a flowing white fabric – the lack of continuity made it hard to discern her voice.

Lack of focus

Michael Pickering, editor of Men's Style, felt Wales Bonner's presentation lacked focus. "Some of her clothes are impressive realisations of her ambitions," he told Life & Leisure, "but I actually thought the collections from some of the more established names such as [Joe] Casely-Hayford and Maharishi – while not stunningly original – held together better as runway presentations."

What's undeniable is Wales Bonner's raw talent. After the show, she told journalists her aim with the collection was to "give different cultures a similar value" – and in this she succeeded.

On paper, this season's Men's Fashion Week in Milan was all about upheaval. Here, too, the schedule was missing several mainstays: no Gucci, which will henceforth show its menswear during women's week, and no Bottega Veneta, which will do the same. Other houses that usually show at Milan men's, including Jil Sander and Roberto Cavalli, decided not to present collections this season.

Of the mainstream houses that remained, several showcased collections by newly hired designers. Alessandro Sartori, the former creative director of Berluti, has been installed at suiting behemoth Ermenegildo Zegna, and there were also new faces at Marni and Salvatore Ferragamo.

It made for an unpredictable few days but the Italians took it in their stride. After all, the Milan fashion set is nothing if not confident. Sartori made a particularly strong statement with his Zegna collection, sending sweatpants, hoodies and a variety of high-tech fabrics down the runway in a clear sign that one of Italy's most powerful and traditional brands has begun aggressively courting a more contemporary male customer.

"We're continuing to see designers attempt to evolve menswear through the use of more technical fabrics – ultralight, weatherproof, wrinkle-free – and in doing so, break down the boundaries between what would be considered more formal garments and sports/athletic wear," says Pickering. "The language nearly all of them use in describing this evolution is of reflecting the needs of the contemporary man – garments which are multi-use, mobile, transitional from work to play."

Backwards look

While Zegna looked forward, two titanic personalities – Miuccia Prada and Giorgio Armani – looked back. Prada's men's collection summoned the spirit of the 1970s with corduroy, cardigans and suit jackets, worn here, too, by both men and women. Every conceivable shade of brown was represented; there was also plenty of grey for the less adventurous. The Emporio Armani collection struck some as reminiscent of the designer's mid-80s work – the voluminous suit pants and fitted jackets sent several veteran critics into flashback mode.

The menswear collections continue this week and next in Paris and New York, with more musical chairs and plenty of rumination on the future of the industry. In Paris, which kicked off in the early hours of Thursday Australian time, the consistently interesting Haider Ackermann shows his first collection for Berluti while maintaining his eponymous label.

In New York, former Dior man Raf Simons lifts the curtain on his first collection as "chief creative officer" for Calvin Klein. New York Fashion Week Men's kicks off on Monday January 30 (early on Tuesday January 31 in Australia).

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