MILAN, Italy — There were light tones of grey and blue, spiced up with dashes of burnt Sienna, at Canali, one of the veritable bastions of Italian dressing. The chromatic lightness was a counterpoint to the house specialty: weightless tailoring. And, indeed, everything looked breezy and airy on the catwalk, from formal suits worn with informal panache to sportswear worn with an air of propriety. It was business as usual for the brand, which is a perfect example of Italian classicism. But the goings got repetitive — even a tad boring. The collection lacked the slight fashionable sparkle of recent seasons. The reason? The lack of a creative director. No matter how traditional the brand, staging a fashion show requires a keen act of image-making. Otherwise it's just clothes and it's better to just show them in the showroom.