Molto Milano: Milan Fashion Week gets sexy

During the week of shows the clothes on the catwalks had to compete with the trill of the iPhones which worked tirelessly to keep those in the front row abreast of breaking news concerning Jil Sander and Yves Saint Laurent as they parted ways with their respective creative directors. Milan's finest design talents found themselves fighting tooth and nail for headlines.

But they needn't have worried. For as the last model took her turn on the catwalk yesterday, this fashion week had already gone down in history as one that would change the face of Italian fashion. And the "molto" sex appeal for which the city is famous was reborn.

Milanese designers are renowned for their stereotypical approach to sex - think body-skimming dresses and cleavage - and indeed a pared-down revision of this dominated the week. This was seen most explicitly at the Jil Sander show, where Raf Simons in his swan song for the label delighted the audience with a modernised vision of Grace Kelly. A new, sensual take on grown-up femininity is alive and well in Italy's fashion capital.

At Prada, Miuccia Prada demonstrated her canny knack for transforming the ugly or unconventional into the desirable. "I wanted to create something that makes a women feel beautiful and important," said the designer backstage, "for it is that which is most important."

In recent years Gucci has become known for its vampish, if obvious, approach to show-stopping glamour but it, too, has moved its goal posts ahead of next season. Presenting a dark, Gothic interpretation of eveningwear, Gucci's creative director unveiled a subtly sexy collection which was among the finest on the Milan schedule.

Key to this renewed idea of femininity is the silhouette. While in previous seasons a Milanese take on provocative glamour relied heavily on thigh-high skirt length and plunging cleavage, next winter it is all about the waist. In his latest offering for Fendi, Karl Lagerfeld relied on scalloped belts to attenuate the waistline, and heavy duty corsetry at eveningwear experts Bottega Veneta lent an hourglass silhouette to thick velvet gowns.

London may long have had a shrewd eye for emerging talent, and Paris has savoir-faire, but when it comes to scintillating sexuality, the Italians will always do it better. Bellissima.

Twitter: @karendacre