Milan fashion week: An elegant ending

Dolce & Gabbana went back to basics. Guardian fashion editor Jess Cartner-Morley said: "The show opened with a sequence of immaculate black jackets in subtly different shapes and lengths, paired with knickers or lace shorts, and styled with simply pinned-up hair and classic black satin courts. It was a bold move which shone the spotlight on the immaculate construction and subtleties of style of the jackets."
Photograph: Alberto Pellaschiar/AP

"As the collection segued into eveningwear, Dolce & Gabbana classics appeared one after another - leopardprint, black lace, red roses ..."
Photograph: Max Rossi/Reuters

"... a new cocktail dress shape emerged, a swathe of bright fabric, draped at the hip, with black lingerie straps at the neckline. It came first in claret velvet, then bottle green; later it became more elaborate, with panels of lace, silk and velvet; but each fabric and colour demonstrated the Dolce skill in balancing what they call “the sacred and the profane” - which roughly translates, in clothes, into the elegant and the saucy."
Photograph: Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images

Designer Frida Giannini described the Gucci show as "controlled opulence"
Photograph: Christophe Simon/AFP/Getty Images

Jess said the collection was: "a refreshingly clean and simple vision of what Gucci stands for now, in 'house' colours of camel, cloud-grey, tobacco, chocolate, ivory and - of course - black."
Photograph: Alberto Pellaschiar/AP

It was just a shame that the means by which trousers were promoted to eveningwear was, almost without exception, the addition of a fur coat
Photograph: Christophe Simon/AFP/Getty Images

In contrast to the pared-down looks at Dolce & Gucci, the Versace show was all about bling
Photograph: Matteo Bazzi/EPA

The razzle-dazzle sat rather uncomfortably with the rest of the MFW vibe
Photograph: Antonio Calanni/AP

Brightly-coloured gowns at the finale of the show
Photograph: Matteo Bazzi/EPA

The Emporio Armani show created visual impact with pairs of models in identical or complementary outfits
Photograph: Fabio Bucciarelli/Empics Entertainment

The same dress in two different colours, worn with matching accessories
Photograph: Matteo Bazzi/EPA

The designer liked the trick so much, he repeated it in his higher-end Giorgio Armani show
Photograph: Andrea Raso/Empics Entertainment

This time, the models also had matching hairpieces that resembled dreadlocks
Photograph: Matteo Bazzi/EPA

The Moschino show began with a rather chic, secret agent look
Photograph: Fabio Bucciarelli/Empics Entertainment

But this soon gave way to some less restrained outfits
Photograph: Matteo Bazzi/EPA

Culminating in this rather bizarre ensemble
Photograph: Christophe Simon/AFP/Getty Images

Jil Sander was another collection that embraced the new simplicity
Photograph: Antonio Calanni/AP

Hemlines were super-short, but sensible fabrics and scraped-back hair underlined a grown-up feel to the clothes
Photograph: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images

Roberto Cavalli, on the other hand, showed an entirely eccentric collection
Photograph: Christophe Simon/AFP/Getty Images

Instead of reining himself in, he completely let loose, piling prints and fabrics on top of each other like they were going out of fashion. Which, let's face it, they probably were
Photograph: Alessandro Garofalo/Reuters