TOUSLED hair, check. Heartbreakingly chiselled cheekbones, check. Broad shoulders, manly swagger, ability to wear hair bands without looking stupid, check. The ladies may have had a brief look in, but really, this year's China Fashion Week was all about the men, as Beijing played host to brands from across the world vying to show off the designs that the best-dressed among us will be wearing next winter.

Held in an imposing former weapons factory in the capital's famous 798 art district, the show by Cabbeen Chic, hailed as China's most successful menswear brand, set the trend for the week. In the show themed "World of Ice and Snow," streams of moody-looking, six-foot models with quiffed hair emerged from a makeshift glacier to pounding rock music. The suits were sharp and black, the jumpers heavy and gray and the trousers tapered, the models scowling as they attempted, somewhat comically, to navigate fake icebergs littering the catwalk.

Watching were some of the biggest stars of the male fashion world. Shanghai Daily spotted Ren Quan, the TV presenter and actor, besieged by reporters after the show. Reclining backstage was Hu Bing, the original male super model with a sideline in horror movies who is regularly dubbed China's most handsome man. At 40, he is charming as ever.

In the palatial banquet hall of the Beijing Hotel in the capital's Wangfujing area, where much of Fashion Week takes place, Italian menswear brand Cadini proved Italian chic is still going strong. The collection featured smooth velvet jackets, double-breasted suits and broad-checked trousers with red shoes displayed by a mix of Asian and Caucasian models. "I'm very happy it went well," designer Omar Rashid said afterward, sounding relieved. "We are very interested in China. It is the world's fastest growing market."

Antonino Laspina, the Italian trade commissioner in Beijing, agreed. "With this collection they are moving at a totally different level. I've seen a lot of things put together in a powerful mix - you see clean lines, high tailoring. I'm going to buy as soon as possible. What they have in mind is the ... career man, a businessman, well dressed. A kind of allure."

There are many great Italian brands but Chinese consumers only know a few, he said. "This is why (Cadini) comes to China Fashion Week because people will think that if they are there, then they have been accepted ..."

Holding their own in their home market was business wear label Edenbo and Septwolves, who drew inspiration from the metropolis of Beijing and Shanghai with a military uniform-style assortment of leather coats and pilot jackets.

Men's fashion is used to playing second fiddle to the girls: with womenswear generally offering more variety, more creativity - and more take-up. But in Asia, where it is not seen as un-masculine to care about the design of your wallet or carry a handbag, men are a powerful buying force, making up more than half of luxury goods purchases compared with less a third in many countries.

China's menswear market is growing at 18 percent a year, fertile terrain for designers. The mainland has felt a bit left behind when it comes to punching on the global fashion stage. With only 20 years to its name, it can not yet compete with the 70-year-old Paris Fashion Week and its long established maisons such as Hermes and LVMH.

Is this going to change? This was the second year the week was sponsored by luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz, which also sponsors New York and Berlin weeks, and has already raised the bar.

Jean-Pierre Mocho, president of the French Federation of Women's Ready to Wear, was impressed at a contest for best knitwear designer. "The standard was very high. It is perhaps not quite at the international level, but it is very nearly there," he said.

If China can succeed with a luxury fashion brand, will it be in menswear? One of the most talked-about shows was the Friday night launch of Sheji-Sorgere, a brand trying to do just that. Twenty years after Italian stalwart Ermenegildo Zegna proved the virility of the men's market, the Italians and Chinese have joined forces with a new label.

The designer is Francesco Fiordelli, a Florentine who has lived in China for six years and earlier worked for Gucci and Hugo Boss in his 25-year career.

Sheji-Sorgere - meaning "Infinite" in Chinese and "Rise Up" in Italian - is a tie-up between China Garments Group, the former state textile manufacturer that once made Mao suits, and Italian company Caruso.

The show began with a Chinese-Italian montage of Audrey Hepburn in "A Roman Holiday," interspersed with shots from the film series about the founding father of the People's Republic of China, "Once Upon a Time in China," cleverly ushering in a collection of lush fabrics in gray and red, classic European patterns mixed with distinctively Chinese rounded collars and close-fitting buttoned jackets.

Fiordelli, a self-professed Sinophile, explained he wanted to create a brand specifically for the stylish Chinese man, starting with shops in Beijing and Shanghai, and then rolling out more nationwide. The clothes are not cheap - a suit starts at about 35,000 yuan (US$5,548).

"It's a Chinese brand with an international philosophy. The men we want to talk to are very informed about fashion. They understand style, and don't accept generic styles," he said. "Until now the Chinese market has only bought Italian brands, but I think it's ready (for a Chinese brand)."

In the audience was You Yougen, deputy director at an international education association and a potential customers.

His favorite designers are "Armani for suits and Brooks Brothers for shirts" and he said he would pay 10,000 (US$1,585) for a suit, "maybe a bit more." He liked the Italian styles on show best.

"I like Chinese clothes - it is our traditional design - but I don't think I would buy those suits for myself. I prefer European styles," he said.