La lista: 10 Italian spring style stalwarts to make your Vita a little more Dolce

Sex sells: Anthony Vaccarello is seen by many in the fashion world as the new Gianni Versace

Pleats please

Tomas Maier's spring Bottega Veneta collection was craftsy without looking homespun. A cavalcade of pleats are a key trend of the season. But Italians really do do them better.

Timeless chic

Italy loves a piazza – please note the first 'a'. That's where Anita Ekberg so memorably frolicked in a fountain in La Dolce Vita, which lends its name to Longines' bestselling watch, whose face is an elegantly piazza-shaped square. From £760, Selfridges

Curvaceous borders

Laura Ashley's pink and white floral dress is classic mid-century chic: full-skirted, low-cut, and as curvaceous as Gina Lollobrigida after an especially succulent spaghetti supper. Very va-va-voom. £90, lauraashley.com

Sex sells

Half-Belgian, Half-Italian, Anthony Vaccarello is seen by many in the fashion world as the new Gianni Versace – including Donatella, who tapped him up to design the next Versus collection. Expect sky-high hemlines and plenty of sex appeal.

Scarlet woman

No Italian look can be truly complete without an operatic slash of red lipstick. Nars offers a scarlet- saturated pigment provocatively titled 'Jungle Red'. Basta? Never, ever. £19.50, John Lewis nationwide

Cool in the shade

Linda Farrow's collaboration with Agent Provocateur pushes the classic 1950s wing-framed cats-eye lens to the nth degree – wear like a terribly Tuscan Liz Taylor. Agent Provocateur by Linda Farrow Gallery, £305, lindafarrow.com

Famiglia jewels

Italians love a bit of bling, but they don't generally turn to Miuccia Prada for the flashier stuff. This season, though, she celebrates her homeland's taste for troppo in lavishly excessive Miu Miu bijoux. From £290-£850, miumiu.com

In the bag

Ex-Gucci designer Alessandra Facchinetti is freshly-installed in the Tod's stable. Her first s/s 2014 collection included a reinterpretation of the label's classic 1996 'D-Bag', remixed as the 'D-Cube'. From £935, tods.com

A shoe in

Formerly head honcho at Sergio Rossi, Francesco Russo has set up shop in Paris, but his sensuous, superbly-constructed footwear epitomises the Made In Italy label. 8 Rue de Valois, 75001 Paris, France

Cottoning on

Sunspel's pleated dress (see gallery above) may have come from the mind of an Irishman (JW Anderson) collaborating with a Nottingham cotton specialist, but it oozes Italian neo-realist appeal. £350, sunspel.com