Colours and art galore at Milan Fashion Week shows

Milan: Bold colours, high heels and an artist's touch were key themes at Milan's summer 2008 Womens Wear Week which ended on Saturday, epitomised in the stunning gallery gowns that finished Dolce & Gabbana's show on Thursday.

And if hemlines really are a barometer of financial markets, current stock market falls will be short-lived as many skirts were short, either swinging full in 1950s style or pencil slim.

"The continuing message is colour, which is going to be very exciting for customers," Ken Downing, fashion director at Neiman Marcus in New York told Reuters. Jil Sander, Marni and Burberry all used bold colours, while Donatella Versace ended her show on Thursday with a series of sweeping, slim evening gowns in jade, yellow, pink and turquoise -- a colour that seemed in every designer's paintbox.

At Gucci, designer Frida Giannini used a black and white base for her patterns but liberally splashed them with bright yellow and bubblegum pink.

Shorts or short skirts were favoured by many brands, from hot pants at Blumarine to shorts at Versace and then trousers tied just above the knee at Giorgio Armani's two collections. And if the trousers were long, they were almost all wide-legged and loose, with Dolce & Gabbana's D&G line labelling them "elephant foot."

Many designers opted for soft, flowing fabrics that they could layer for a selection of effects through teasingly transparent to full flounces. Miuccia Prada, often seen as one of Milan's most innovative designers, used huge petals of tissue-like silk hung on the hips of dresses or draped across shoulders.

High Art High heels tottered along runways everywhere, many with beautifully sculpting or embellished with woven leather, as at Bottega Veneta, or linen coverings for Saturday's last show at Alviero Martini. Gucci chose gold, for lace-up front stilletoes, and Versace and Armani both shaped heels with inward cuts to give an artistic flavour to the footwear.

Bags -- another important accessory for designers -- were big, soft and often carried a side pouch pocket, as at Dolce & Gabbana on Thursday -- enabling women to have the utility of a holdall and the chicness of a handbag together. "A clutch bag that fits into a tote becomes your new twinset," Downing said. For many designers, details were not confined to accessories and there were ample amounts of embroidery, ruffles and frills. Emporio Armani had splashes of silver and sequins on Wednesday, Missoni banded a gold dress with bright turquoise that looked like enamelling and Love, Sex, Money on Friday embroidered outfits in silver that gave an almost Turkish feel.

"The hand of the artist has popped up in every collection ... this whole painterly attitude feels very fresh," Downing said.

The artistic touch became fully-fledged artwork at Dolce & Gabbana's show on Thursday, when designers Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce asked three artists to paint fabrics for them. Their finale was overflowing black dresses daubed with white, magenta, green or bright pink that looked as if the models had swirled themselves in the cast-off canvas in an artist's studio.