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ABOVE, FROM TOP: Pucci; Guerriero; Lawrence Steele; Giorgio Armani.

   At Versace, things looked a lot more grown up. The show opened with a yellow-and-black-checked tweed coat worn with black top, mismatched checked skirt and studded ankle boots—a sort of punky Chanel combo. Then came fluorescent yellow Mongolian lamb or mink ladylike coats, white cashmere coats with glorious fox collars, petite cardigans worn over narrow skirts, and also one of those signature body-hugging black leather coats with metal chain inserts. Small carry-on bags covered in spiky studs kept the punky ante up across the whole collection. The eveningwear was less convincing than usual, with the exception of a black Persian lamb coat covered in a cascade of billowy jet-black fringes that looked like the perfect match of déco and rock.
   French mæstro Christian Lacroix has clearly found his place at Pucci. The house's signature prints and colours match the designer's flair for elegance and fun. This time there was a healthy dose of black to highlight the vivid colour palette. The overall mood felt coquettish belle époque, complete with lovely dyed fox pom-poms perched side-high on the head. Over a base of white printed leggings—that came with everything, from morning suit to evening gown—Lacroix put narrow black coats with light blue fox shawl collars. Mannish cropped trousers were paired with masculine grey flannel coats covered in subdued moiré swirls, perfect black capes lined in printed silk, and short coachman mantles edged in white mink. The designer even managed to transfer a brocade lattice motif over the curvaceous sheepskin jacket coupled with fluttering silk skirt, and dyed all his furs in flashy tones of blue, pink and purple. The filigree evening gowns with hems askew were a standout, and so was a black velvet, single-sleeved number. Bravo.
   After years of honing his pared-down fashion formula to perfection, and at the ripe old age of 70, Giorgio Armani did a sudden about-turn and went “eccentric”. This was the title for the winter collection and clothes followed suit. A long, narrow tulip-shaped suede coat worn with marabou hat and boots opened a show strong on couture-like pieces. Sculptural plays of fabric around collar and torso, riding-style suits à la Schiaparelli, and black diamante-pinstriped tail-jackets matched with tulle-ruffled ballerina skirts followed. He also braided black mink with satin ribbons for the casually elegant evening capes and throws.
   A piece of handwritten paper wrapped with satin

The Dolce & Gabbana collec­tion paid homage to the iconic fantasies of the late German photo­grapher Helmut Newton, as epitom­ized in the double finalé with one group of models in mannish tuxedos, another in goddess dresses complete with fox stoles slipping from bare shoulders. A group of belles de jour ready for sin strutted down the oval runway

garter and a dried rosette was the invitation to the Guerriero show, openly inspired by the eighteenth century. The Neapolitan designer mixed Madame de Pompadour and ’50s rock ’n’ roll. His flirty belles in bustiers and ruffled culottes—hair coiffed in banana hairdos halfway between Roi Soleil courtesan and Grease—wore black leather combos of biker jacket and pencil skirt, pink fox bustle coats or fluttery toile de jouy dresses.
   Lawrence Steele showed for the first time after a year-long absence from the runways, due to switching manufacturer and rearranging his business’s structure. The stunning collection proved worth the wait. For a start, the venue was tremendously on cue: a cozy apartment with mirrored walls that used to be the showroom of the late, great designer Walter Albini back in the late ’70s. In fact, Steele paid homage to Albini's obsession with the ’20s, Ella Fitzgerald and languid elegance in the superbly chic ensembles accessorized at all times with billowy head wraps worthy of a Great Gatsby character.
   The intimate, slightly old-fashioned presentation—guests could almost touch the dresses from their gilt chairs as models passed by—opened with a bon ton mink cropped sack jacket worn over an apricot silk dress delicately nipped at the waist. Everything looked old-school couture. The ’20s mood turned full-blown in the final show-stopping number, a green satin dawn jacket with sunburst embroidery on the back, worn over a glistening siren nightgown.
   Feminine ’70s secretaries with trousers tucked inside high-heeled boots materialized at Max Mara. The house is best known for coats, and this season they introduced a new style with the waist cut high and a fuller volume below waistlines. There were endless variations on the theme, including sheepskin numbers with plays of intarsia. For evenings, the tent-like silhouette became body hugging and curvaceous in an endless sequence of ankle length second-skin tunics with generous openings edged in embroidery.
   With almost all designers heavily into richness and luxe, expectations grew higher during the week to see what Roberto Cavalli, one of the originators of the trend in non-suspect times, was up to. The ebullient Tuscan, favoured by the showbiz aristocracy for his unashamedly over-the-top take on glamour, did not disappoint. In a darker than usual mood, Cavalli did art-déco Venetian boudoir, pointing at the decadent Marquise Luisa Casati, one of Gabriele d'Annunzio's most famous lovers, as inspiration. He presented the collection in an intoxicating set fully furnished with gilt canopy bed, crystal chandeliers and sculpted elephants. Smoky-eyed, frizzy-haired vixens paraded down the brocade-carpeted runaway in sable bathrobe coats thrown over printed silk pyjama suits, sheepskin jackets encrusted with jewel stones worn with plus-fours and high-heeled chevalier boots, ruby velvet robes-de-chambre and gypsy damask skirts. There was something decadent and pirate-esque in the air here. A penchant for debauched opulence reached peak level in the countless fur numbers: tiger-skin coats covered in sequins, pony skin overprinted with zebra stripes, fox jackets with circular diamante cutouts and more. At night, the action went seriously, glamorously dangerous: siren nightgowns offered glimpses of the skin through jewelled cutouts, and amazing embroideries—the result of a collaboration with revered embroidery houses Lésage, Vermont and Hurel—painted birds of paradise and other magic animals on the sides of plunging necklines and elsewhere.
   Iceberg was an ode to coquettish femininity in bright pop-art colour. Key items in the collection were the fox bomber jackets, with knitted bands at waist and wrists, dyed in unexpected fluorescent shades of yellow, pink and orange, along with the many pieces detailed with intricate lacing like an eighteenth-century corset. Continuing the urban–metropolitan–courtesan vibe, there were also sleeveless coat-dresses in pale blue brocade cut like a biker jacket, skimpy skirts with vertical crumpling to emphasize the woman's every curve, and flirty fluttering evening dresses with bright embroidered motifs.
   There was corset lacing aplenty at Extè, too, but in aggressive mode. Designer Sergio Ciucci served his body-hugging concoctions mostly in black leather, while he also cut jackets and coats into black pony skin and delivered noteworthy fur numbers with side bands.
   A glamorous, coldly sensual creature materialized at Gianfranco Ferrè, in a collection cleverly mixing ’40s glamour with references taken from the worlds of fencing and riding. The silhouette here is hourglass, with strong shoulders and hems flaring in sculptural flounces. ‘I opted exclusively for knee-length instead of full lengths this season,’ said Ferrè backstage. Models in Veronica Lake hairdos strutted confidently down the runaway in armoured jackets and darted skirts over ribbed cashmere footless stockings and stiletto pumps. White shirts with folded cloud-like collars, and reconstructed trench coats with the hems upside showed off the designer's expertise in cut and architectural construction. Fur surfaced even where one would least expect it: in a jockey cap, for example, or in the black mink V-neck top paired with ladylike suit. On more practical ground, Ferrè also delivered a few totally tempting scarves with cashmere rib-knit on one side, and sable on the other.
   Prada's younger sibling, Miu Miu, played dress-up, something like her grown-up sister, but with overt vintage flare. A double-breasted patterned tweed coat with jewel-buttons and large collar—a bit ’40s, but with more ’70s touches—opened the show, then recurred in many variations, including one with strap-on mink collar. The subversively bourgeois Miu Miu mademoiselle—whose wardrobe also includes mink coats edged in embroidery, librarian cardigans with fur collars and metallic lurex jumpers—has a thing for deep, rich tones of rust, brown and copper this season. She goes out barelegged, oblivious of the bitter weather, and at times wears a washed leather trench coat or a battered leather jacket, too.
   After spring's overdose on prints, Dolce & Gabbana opted this time for a stricter brand of sexually charged glamour with more than a passing hint at Helmut Newton's high-end mayhem. The collection somehow paid open homage to the iconic fantasies of the late German photographer, as epitomized in the double finalé with one group of models in mannish tuxedos, another in goddess dresses complete with fox stoles slipping from bare shoulders. A group of belles de jour ready for sin strutted down the oval runway in black velvet dresses with white lace collars, deep green fox coats and chic tailleurs with cardigan jacket à la Chanel. The new D&G trench mixes black fox at the top and flame red leather below, while embroidered tweed coats lined in mink mischievously reveal satin flesh-toned slips underneath. On the feet, stiletto pumps deliriously encrusted in precious stones.
   At Borbonese, designer Alessando dell’Acqua played with fluid and structured shapes in the collection. He sent out fox bombers with felt inserts nipping the waist followed by mink double-breasted pencil coats; then a white fox armour vest covered in a dancing rain of tails, billowy printed wrap dresses and finally pleated evening strapless numbers worn with gilt python boots.
   The final show on the calendar was Missoni, where Angela Missoni, designer and daughter of founders Tai and Rosita, keeps getting better season after season. This time she chose Hot Couture as the title for her deliciously eccentric collection, a happy marriage of ’20s elongated shapes, carefree hippie sexiness and bohemian romanticism. A multi-colour short cape worn over hot pants—indeed very hot and chic—opened the show. Then came pencil-thin coats and round skirts, dolman-sleeved tops over flounced miniskirts, high-waisted dresses and a whole load of capes, all of it in the new enamel, tapestry and decalcomania prints–jacquards. At night the mood turned almost gypsy in the silk tasselled dresses with all the effortless allure of a shawl casually wrapped around the body. Superb. •