A model presents a creation by Dolce & Gabbana
© AFP Filippo Monteforte

MILAN (AFP) - British designer Matthew Williamson brought an invigorating sense of 'la dolce vita' to Pucci for spring-summer 2007, sending women off to the seaside in little dresses in sky blue, watery green or navy.

Fresh monochrome colours also made quite a splash, such as on a mini-skirt with a side slit, or shorts paired with a fluid tunic, which, like short dresses, have been seen a lot in Milan.

Blue made its mark on longer loose dresses, belted or edged in green and accessorized with stiff chunky bracelets. But prints were not forgotten either.

This season, the label, whose trademark is colourful swirling prints, opted for black and white for a short backless dress or alternatively long frocks with playful cut-outs on the front.

Multi-coloured versions were on offer too, while after dark, the Pucci shade goes pink for sleek evening wear, with the addition of shiny discs to the waist, sleeve or hem.

But back at the beach, Williamson has two-piece swimwear or skimpy one-piece versions, as well as a short flying suit to offer. Add to this, large beach bags for a fresh, perky wardrobe.

A model presents a creation by British designer Matthew Williamson for Emilio Pucci
© AFP Francois Guillot

At Dolce and Gabbana, gold flowed this winter, but for summer it's the turn of silver, plus transparent plastic and black vinyl for a strongly defined silhouette, especially when in a corset.

The design duo, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, painted a dynamic picture of femininity for summer summed up by a short dress, tightly belted at the waist, over black patent or plastic shoes.

Plastic was key to the look -- in cutouts on a bustier, to lengthen a black dress or for a rigid corset -- while black vinyl outlined trousers or shorts, or was used for a collar.

A strapless mini-dress, molded like a shell and laced at the back, stood out like silver armour.

Almost in contrast, the Italian duo softened the approach with a series of long dresses or jump suits that were shiny, multicoloured or richly embroidered with wide asymmetric sleeves.

Silver, as well as black and white, also dominated at Fendi, where Karl Lagerfeld threw in the odd burst of bright pink for a mini-skirt or a perforated micro-blouson top.

A model presents a creation by British designer Matthew Williamson for Emilio Pucci
© AFP Francois Guillot

The German designer also kept dresses short adding vinyl or black patent straps, or a silver bow tie. He punctuated a dress with fine vinyl loops, or alternated it with strips of opaque fabric on a top.

And wide belts emphasized the waist, worn on big-knit sweater dresses.

For Jil Sander, Raf Simons imbued an austerity that translated into cigarette trousers and taut short jackets with a teeny collar whose strictness could not be denied despite coming in bright colours such as lemon, orange or electric blue.

Mini-skirts were cut straight, and the Belgian designer also played with volume, providing an unexpected element to the back created through a draping technique.

Friday sees collections by Gianni Versace, Gianfranco Ferre and DSquared2.

The Milan shows end on Saturday.

©AFP