D&G sexes up Milan on label's last show

MILAN, Sept 22, 2011 (AFP) - Forget subtle tones and retro allusions: Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana raunched up Milan with their new D&G collection on Thursday as the two announced they were winding up the line.

D&G - SS 2012 / Photo: Pixel Formula

Dripping gold jewellery, micro tunic-style dresses and big platform sandals were the main features of the lusty lineup for the warm months of next year, shown off to the sounds of James Brown's soul classic "Sex Machine".

The famous designers announced in a press release that they would integrate D&G in their main Dolce&Gabbana collection starting next season, saying the move would give "even more strength and energy to our collections."

"To us, it's like going back to when we began our adventure: full of ideas. We have a lot of new projects to start in the same way as many years ago when D&G was born," they said, without providing any hints on the future.

The colours of D&G's last collections were bright greens and pinks with prints reminiscent of some of Gianni Versace's classic designs and the fabric of preference was silk twill, a type of weave with diagonal lines.

D&G - SS 2012 / Photo: Pixel Formula

Some of the models looked like expensively dressed Roma dancers with billowing skirts, others like palace courtesans from the Roman Empire lounging by a pool in outsize straw hats, chunky necklaces and wrist-covering bracelets.

D&G said the defining feature of the collection was the use of foulards.

The silk twill foulard is used "as a central element in the construction of clothes, shirts, trousers, skirts and accessories," the designers said.

The shapes "are either soft or made tighter by a foulard winding itself sensuously around the body," said the couple, whose show took place in the historic 1940s Metropol cinema in central Milan owned by their company.