Rainbow colours burst through sludge of Milan

DOMENICO DOLCE and Stefano Gabbana brought a little slice of Sicily to a rainswept Milan yesterday. Roses, wheat sheaves, oranges and lemons formed an exuberant backdrop to a collection that was hot and vividly coloured throughout.

Not for Dolce & Gabbana the sludgy hues that have dominated the Milan catwalks so far. Instead, fluorescent yellow, green, orange and pink was the order of the day.

Perhaps the most clever thing about the collection was that all the Dolce & Gabbana famous hallmarks were in place. There were big Fifties- style bras - the pair have a shrine to the corset in their Milan showroom - worn under sheer stretchy black evening wear and there was the sexiest, curvy footwear seen on the catwalk this season so far. A newer trouser shape, skinny and cropped a little below the knee is, equally, a look that the designers have by now made their own. Despite this, overall, the collection had a happily fresh feel.

Earlier this week, Gabbana said he was tired of fashion and of the pressure on designers to reinvent themselves season after season in particular.

Strange, then, that the autumn/winter 2000 Dolce & Gabbana show seemed so full of joy. Trousers cut off at the knee were scattered with psychedelic flowers - Woodstock has never looked so luxe. These were worn with camisole tops, sequinned to mimic leopard print and the look was finished with snakeskin biker boots in equally lurid hues. For evening there were signature jewel- encrusted opera coats.

True, the show was not recommended for shrinking violets, but then that is not the Dolce & Gabbana market. Clashing colours, colliding prints and more diamante than Barbara Cartland's jewellery box will suit the very brave, sexy and beautiful down to the ground.

Those with a slightly more demure dress sense, meanwhile, will not be disappointed with immaculately tailored narrow black coats, although even these, cutely, boasted bright animal or floral-print linings.

There was plenty of fur, of course - this is Milan, a city hardly famous for being politically correct. Rabbit and mink dyed in all the colours of the rainbow looked, well, expensive. Even by Italian standards, Dolce & Gabbana were pushing it sending out little fur hats shaped like flower pots - Bill and Ben is not what fashion needs.