Milan's womenswear winter 2007/08 fashion shows kicked off last Saturday with glitz and shine from Valeria Marini, although the "Next Generation" of new designers showed that the future will be black. Or grey.
No change there then - fashion's favourite colours are traditional for winter shows.
Leading designers Dolce & Gabbana and Giorgio Armani showed very different views of what they think women should be wearing next winter.
At D&G, Dolce & Gabbana's younger line, the golden duo went wild with leopard print, even using it to decorate the catwalk.
The designers took a disco theme and mixed it with hints of 1940s starlets in the dressing room.
Leopard print negligee-style evening dresses in floating chiffon encountered black velvet smoking jacket-style evening suits complete with long cigarette holders.
To the sound of 1970s hit song Disco Inferno and Madonna's Like a Virgin, models swung out in leopard print shorts so short that, in winter, they could only be worn at the hottest nightspots.
Dolce & Gabbana, who say they draw inspiration from the great directors of Italian film, morphed the big cat spots into abstract ones for silk day dresses.
Heels were high and spikey - a sharp contrast to the flat pumps at Giorgio Armani, who said after his show that women don't need to teeter to be sexy.
Armani dressed his women almost entirely in skirts or dresses, which ended just above the knee and used a gentle bubble curve to keep them feminine rather than smart.
Coats had exaggerated pockets to flare over the hips before turning in again to echo the shape of the skirts. Armani, known for his flowing, classic styles, branched out with latticed arm-covers, criss-crossing limbs from just below the shoulder to the wrist. He covered up hair in glittery "cybernets" for what he called his woman of the future.
Armani also stepped away from his usual black to show dove greys, pinks and midnight blues, and put sparkle and lacquered black straps on bodices to contrast soft silk skirts.
The finale was a chandelier of a dress, made using what Armani called "leaves of crystal" to create a full-length dazzle.
Giorgio Armani took hemlines higher for his less formal Emporio Armani collection, while Gucci swept evening dresses right to the floor in jewelled black and Grecian column white.
Armani, who kept dresses just above the knee for his main line on Monday, made them shorter and cheekier for Emporio Armani, but kept to the bubble skirt shape nipped in to the hem that he had used before.
Models strolled down the catwalk in pairs, wearing complementary outfits so that chiffon stoles slung over shoulders were twinned, black spots on white and white spots on black.
Charcoal grey with a fine horizontal chalk stripe was used in one outfit for a skirt, and parallel for a shirt.
The shorter lengths and swing-back coats kept the mood lighter, while tights with mock grey and black knee socks added to the sense of fun.
Precious metals looked set to be the theme at Gucci's show, given the gold block invitation, but instead designer Frida Giannini used classical white and simple black for her collection.
Giannini, the first designer at the house to have full creative control after Tom Ford left, took evening dresses right down to the floor in black or white columns that she decorated with diamante or bows.
Models wearing long hair L.A. Confidential-style came down the catwalk in black gowns decked with huge silver leaves, or with sparkling epaulets.
A white evening dress pleated vertically at the front was held at the waist with a gold art deco buckle, while on other gowns necks took deep v-shapes down to the waist.
For daytime, Giannini put maroon and black together for below-the-knee skirts while black fur was flecked with chestnut in cuffs and ruffs.
Prada also put socks on models at Miuccia Prada's show on Tuesday, but she used vivid oranges and purples for her legwear.
The designer raided the kitchen cleaning cupboard for innovative fabrics for womenswear next winter, dressing her models in materials that looked like sponge cloths, black plastic and insulation foam.
20070224-lifestyle--fashion1.jpgPrada, famous for dressing The Devil on the cinema screen, packaged her models like fragile consumer goods in calf-length sheath dresses of foam-like fabric.
She put Spontex sponge cloth-effect tops in acid green or black with skirts which stopped below the knee in the same fabric coloured black or robin's egg blue.
Black shiny plastic was stripped into inch-wide feathering to create a glossy crow's back look on a dress or provide a flirty yoke to an orange skirt.
But she also gave the audience of buyers and journalists beautiful black wool tailoring in swing-back coats and dresses that were reined in under the bottom with a half-belt.
Dolce & Gabbana spiced up the sixth day of shows on Thursday with metal masks, crops and corsets that eschewed cosy warmth for fetish sex appeal.
The audience of buyers and journalists waited nearly an hour for the show, but impatience was quickly forgotten when the models hit the black catwalk in high gold and silver stiletto heels wearing sculpted leather, leopard print and feathers.
The designer duo of Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, who gave us big cat prints and disco gold at their more informal D&G show on Monday, showed off fur-like fabrics and leathers with corset-shaped metallic belts.
One "dominatrix" carried a silver twisted riding crop and another wore a shiny metal carnival-style mask. Slim chains looped from hips in what the designers called an "indefinitely fetish" style. Net tulle wrapped up leopard fur fabrics or provided a gauzy covering for wolfish grey coats.
Tulle was used in ruffles for evening dresses, or they were sheer from groin to floor and splashed with sparkling embroidery.
A deep red feather body was sculpted high over breasts, with a wide black patent corset belt, creating an exotic bird perched on spiky black patent heels.
Standing out from the fur and feathers came a grey silk short dress with a bodice which looked sprayed on with metallic paint.
No change there then - fashion's favourite colours are traditional for winter shows.
Leading designers Dolce & Gabbana and Giorgio Armani showed very different views of what they think women should be wearing next winter.
At D&G, Dolce & Gabbana's younger line, the golden duo went wild with leopard print, even using it to decorate the catwalk.
The designers took a disco theme and mixed it with hints of 1940s starlets in the dressing room.
Leopard print negligee-style evening dresses in floating chiffon encountered black velvet smoking jacket-style evening suits complete with long cigarette holders.
To the sound of 1970s hit song Disco Inferno and Madonna's Like a Virgin, models swung out in leopard print shorts so short that, in winter, they could only be worn at the hottest nightspots.
Dolce & Gabbana, who say they draw inspiration from the great directors of Italian film, morphed the big cat spots into abstract ones for silk day dresses.
Heels were high and spikey - a sharp contrast to the flat pumps at Giorgio Armani, who said after his show that women don't need to teeter to be sexy.
Armani dressed his women almost entirely in skirts or dresses, which ended just above the knee and used a gentle bubble curve to keep them feminine rather than smart.
Coats had exaggerated pockets to flare over the hips before turning in again to echo the shape of the skirts. Armani, known for his flowing, classic styles, branched out with latticed arm-covers, criss-crossing limbs from just below the shoulder to the wrist. He covered up hair in glittery "cybernets" for what he called his woman of the future.
Armani also stepped away from his usual black to show dove greys, pinks and midnight blues, and put sparkle and lacquered black straps on bodices to contrast soft silk skirts.
The finale was a chandelier of a dress, made using what Armani called "leaves of crystal" to create a full-length dazzle.
Giorgio Armani took hemlines higher for his less formal Emporio Armani collection, while Gucci swept evening dresses right to the floor in jewelled black and Grecian column white.
Armani, who kept dresses just above the knee for his main line on Monday, made them shorter and cheekier for Emporio Armani, but kept to the bubble skirt shape nipped in to the hem that he had used before.
Models strolled down the catwalk in pairs, wearing complementary outfits so that chiffon stoles slung over shoulders were twinned, black spots on white and white spots on black.
Charcoal grey with a fine horizontal chalk stripe was used in one outfit for a skirt, and parallel for a shirt.
The shorter lengths and swing-back coats kept the mood lighter, while tights with mock grey and black knee socks added to the sense of fun.
Precious metals looked set to be the theme at Gucci's show, given the gold block invitation, but instead designer Frida Giannini used classical white and simple black for her collection.
Giannini, the first designer at the house to have full creative control after Tom Ford left, took evening dresses right down to the floor in black or white columns that she decorated with diamante or bows.
Models wearing long hair L.A. Confidential-style came down the catwalk in black gowns decked with huge silver leaves, or with sparkling epaulets.
A white evening dress pleated vertically at the front was held at the waist with a gold art deco buckle, while on other gowns necks took deep v-shapes down to the waist.
For daytime, Giannini put maroon and black together for below-the-knee skirts while black fur was flecked with chestnut in cuffs and ruffs.
Prada also put socks on models at Miuccia Prada's show on Tuesday, but she used vivid oranges and purples for her legwear.
The designer raided the kitchen cleaning cupboard for innovative fabrics for womenswear next winter, dressing her models in materials that looked like sponge cloths, black plastic and insulation foam.
20070224-lifestyle--fashion1.jpgPrada, famous for dressing The Devil on the cinema screen, packaged her models like fragile consumer goods in calf-length sheath dresses of foam-like fabric.
She put Spontex sponge cloth-effect tops in acid green or black with skirts which stopped below the knee in the same fabric coloured black or robin's egg blue.
Black shiny plastic was stripped into inch-wide feathering to create a glossy crow's back look on a dress or provide a flirty yoke to an orange skirt.
But she also gave the audience of buyers and journalists beautiful black wool tailoring in swing-back coats and dresses that were reined in under the bottom with a half-belt.
Dolce & Gabbana spiced up the sixth day of shows on Thursday with metal masks, crops and corsets that eschewed cosy warmth for fetish sex appeal.
The audience of buyers and journalists waited nearly an hour for the show, but impatience was quickly forgotten when the models hit the black catwalk in high gold and silver stiletto heels wearing sculpted leather, leopard print and feathers.
The designer duo of Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, who gave us big cat prints and disco gold at their more informal D&G show on Monday, showed off fur-like fabrics and leathers with corset-shaped metallic belts.
One "dominatrix" carried a silver twisted riding crop and another wore a shiny metal carnival-style mask. Slim chains looped from hips in what the designers called an "indefinitely fetish" style. Net tulle wrapped up leopard fur fabrics or provided a gauzy covering for wolfish grey coats.
Tulle was used in ruffles for evening dresses, or they were sheer from groin to floor and splashed with sparkling embroidery.
A deep red feather body was sculpted high over breasts, with a wide black patent corset belt, creating an exotic bird perched on spiky black patent heels.
Standing out from the fur and feathers came a grey silk short dress with a bodice which looked sprayed on with metallic paint.