Versacebrings curtain down on Milan fashion fest

Donatella Versace( left)stands with actress and singer Jennifer Lopez and her husband, choreographer Cris Judd, prior to the start of the Versace Spring-Summer 2002 fashions in Milan.

Milan fashion week ended in style on Tuesday as one of its loudest labels, Versace, took the trends other designers have been toying with and infused them with its very own glamour.

Versace, known for dressing the rich and famous in figure revealing frocks, resisted the temptation to produce its trademark tight-cut leather suits and provided a thoroughly feminine and sexy collection for autumn/winter 2002/3.

"That was brilliant! A really good end to the week," said one top fashion editor after the show.

More than a couple of critics said the collection, which gave traditional pencil skirts a Versace twist and split evening gowns high up the thigh, showed designer Donatella Versace had truly taken on the mantle of her dead brother Gianni.

Versace was true to itself by keeping bright pink and fluorescent yellow in a prominent place on the clothes rail but also showed some pieces that would please the most hardened of black trouser wearers.

"That's the first Versace show I've seen when I can actually imagine myself being a Versace girl," said Barbara, a guest at the show.

A model displays a creation as part of Versace's Autumn/Winter 2002/03 collection at Milan's fashion week March 5, 2002.

Plenty of Milanese fashion, both this season and last, has centred around chiffon, layered into feminine, floaty dresses cut long, short or asymmetrical.

Just when most fashionistas had decided the elfin trend was out of the sexy Versace girl's sight, Donatella showed long layered dresses in bright yellow, white and purple or pink and khaki, twisted around the body to show plenty of flesh.

And anyone who has accused Versace of simply draping material around great bodies was given food for thought by neatly-tailored, knee-length coats darted around the waist and embroidered around the cuffs and back.

If animal skin made less of an appearance than normal, there were still brown fur coats to mid-calf and a bright pink perforated trench coat tied tight at the waist.