Versace et al spurn trends to go their own ways

The Italian collections are nothing if not an exercise in trend spotting. It is here in Milan that the next big thing is identified, the big stories for next season are shaped and where the bags and shoes that will be worn with them are crafted. So it's interesting to notice then that the biggest trend of the Autumn/Winter 2005 Italian collections is that there are no trends.

The Italian collections are nothing if not an exercise in trend spotting. It is here in Milan that the next big thing is identified, the big stories for next season are shaped and where the bags and shoes that will be worn with them are crafted. So it's interesting to notice then that the biggest trend of the Autumn/Winter 2005 Italian collections is that there are no trends.

And as if to confirm this phenomenon Fendi, Miu Miu and Versace, three of Milan's most influential fashion brands, went their own separate ways. First up was Fendi, the house famous for its little bags and big furs. Bringing the focus back on to its two core products, Karl Lagerfeld did what Fendi does best: hard-core glamour.

Girls stormed out in devoré-effect leather dresses, fur worked into stripes for coats with epaulettes and claret-coloured broadtail trench coats. And the accessories were just as high voltage. Bags were covered in a smattering of crystals and boots in white caviar beads. While it won't be to everyone's taste, it certainly had conviction.

At Miu Miu, Miuccia Prada's second line, Italian fashion's First Lady continued her more innocent spin on her Prada mainline collection. Good Italian girls, in black net head scarves and black lace shawls, looked as if they were about to turn bad girls with Rockabilly hair, metal chain belts and purple astrakhan coats.

Finally, Donatella Versace sent out an electric collection of its signature sexed-up style. Cashmere coats cinched in at the waist and with a full skirt, off-the-shoulder jumpers of knitted fur, derrière-hugging boot leg trousers and gilt trims will all satisfy the customer.

Sportmax sent out cropped trousers buttoned at the calf, velvet cuffed shorts and tops with pleated fan collars and voluminous sleeves.

And that was about as good as it got. The confusion of its 1950s-meets-1980s masculine tailoring was also evident in the evening wear ­ Twenties drop-waisted lace and satin slips, some with Art Nouveau embellishment, 1950s strapless baby-doll dresses, 1980s puffball shapes and long skirts, paired with lumpy, knitted, striped boob tubes. A mess.