Just a little over 200 years since Napoleon whistled over the Alps and into Milan, Gianfranco Ferre on Sunday borrowed the emperor's clothes for a fashion week show of imperial pinstripes and leather-clad swashbucklers.

Putting the sex into sword fights for autumn/winter 2003/4, military overcoats petered into elegant fishtails and empire-line dresses turned see-through, cut not so much for Josephine as J-Lo.

Buyers and editors were mixed on the broad sweep of the show, some wrinkling their noses at the androgynous swashbucklers, headed by a spiky-haired Stella Tennant in second-skin leather and billowing white shirt.

But all agreed that the details made the collection.

"It was really beautiful, really majestic. I loved the pinstriping. What was great was the nice twist on the basics," one US stylist said.

Focus was on chalk-striped sleeves twisted back to the elbow or tied round the arms with creamy-white organza sashes.

Rosettes sat on military-style peaked shoulders that slipped into tightly nipped waists, while cameo-brooches pinned across a golden snake-skin blouson offset narrow combat trousers in the softest silk and slung with zips and chains.

Front-row fashionistas whipped out throwaway cameras to snap a floor-skimming cobwebby black coat and skinny knee-length ivory skirt with kick-up ruffle at the front.

And for those with an imperial tryst in mind, dresses cut away to reveal lacy bras and knickers and scarlet funnel-collared coats rustled against flouncy fuchshia skirts.

"It wasn't my kind of thing. But a lot of people loved it. There was a lot of applause out there," one Britain fashion writer said.