Dolce & Gabbana, Ferrari and Ferragamo

Saturday's final round of shows in Milan focused on dressing creative women and iconic women, particularly Madonna, who caused a stampede when she sat front row at Dolce & Gabbana to witness a collection for which she was a muse.

Dolce & Gabbana: Material Girl mode

Speaking of making a spectacular entrance, it looked as if Maradona had scored in a World Cup final, but the biggest applause went to Madonna entering the Dolce & Gabbana show.

Dressed in a black lace dress, her face covered by a black mantilla veil and her head crowned with a gold crown, Madonna entered before 1,000 guests holding 1,000 mobile phones.

Her entire aesthetic was celebrated in this show. From 'Blond Ambition' and 'Material Girl', to 'Vogue' and 'Truth or Dare', where she wore her first bustier. We go back to 1992, when the Italian duo created the outfits for the 'Erotica' tour, and to 2008, when Madonna wore a Dolce & Gabbana on the cover of her album 'Hard Candy'.

On the catwalk, the entire cast wore bleached blonde wigs and dozens of looks topped off with their signature cone bras. Even the tuxedos showed off boobs at this show.

At the end, Domenico and Stefano, who normally take a brief bow at the top of the catwalk, walked halfway to greet Madonna Ciccone. The Italian-American singer stood up to hug them.

“Madonna has always been our icon. Thanks to her, many things have changed in our lives,” the duo said in the program notes.

Titled 'Italian Beauty', the designers said the collection was a tribute to “an iconic and powerful female figure, immortalised by cinema over the decades”. But the clear muse was Madonna, playing with her codes: from anatomically cut jackets to corset details.

Made primarily in black and white, in a mix of materials: duchess crepe, tulle, chiffon lace and eco-leather. A collection completed by a series of bustier dresses in flesh tones, to dress the latest sensual widows of the designer duo. In the world of Dolce & Gabbana, women are never in mourning for long and never have a headache.

Among half a dozen fantastic dresses with Photoshopped floral prints, the sexy Sicilian style that characterizes Dolce & Gabbana, and a reminiscence of the Latin divas of the past through enormous earrings with crosses or bags by Sicily and Marlene.

The star of the show wasn't on the catwalk, though, but Madonna, sitting in a section where Naomi Campbell and Eva Herzigova were sitting. Even with her face covered, she took over the show.

Ferragamo: ballet dancing with style

No one can doubt that Maximilian Davis, the designer of Ferragamo, is a talented man. However, it's hard to remember the last time Ferragamo had a collection of hits that packed the bases, and this latest show didn't break that long streak.

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There was much to admire in the collection, but also something to regret, even if the show was staged with considerable skill inside a giant soundstage with huge beige curtains, matching carpet and box-shaped ottomans in a giant circle.

Too often, the clothes were simply too complicated: trench coats of crumpled leather or waxed cotton, but three sizes too big, slit and finished with a waistband well below the hips. And the huge, puffy suede coats suffocated many models rather than giving them a sense of majesty.

However, her ballet dancer returning from a workout in strappy satin high heels is sure to find admirers, as are Yves Klein's anthracite-gold slip dresses and blue silk wrap cocktail dresses.

“The collection was based on the relationship Salvatore had with several dancers. One of them is Catherine Dunham,” said Davis, whose invitation featured a black-and-white archival photo of Mr. Ferragamo fitting the dancer and choreographer with a new shoe.

Davis also bounced back at the finale, where his draping skills came into their own. And you can't fault him for his macramé dresses that looked like they were made from lab-grown algae. Or a sensational leather coat made from cut-out belts. An ambitious collection that, if erratic, showed a young designer taking risks and experimenting. Something that founder Salvatore, who looked happy in the invitation to the show, would have enjoyed.

Ferrari: Creating a fashion cabinet

As cozy as the interior of a Gran Turismo sedan and as daring as a Formula One 312T taking a hairpin turn, Ferrari's latest collection was not without drama.

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Nor was the production in a restored theatre in Piazza Vetro, where the cast almost ran wild on the winding catwalk. The drama was also present in the soundtrack: eight singers sang a modern Gregorian chant composed by DJ Frédéric Sanchez.

Ferrari fashion designer Rocco Iannone is not lacking in self-confidence and likes to dress a self-assured client.

Whether it's dried blood red leather suits with raglan backs and pencil skirts, or draped tonneau silk dresses with deep throats and open backs.

All these shades were mixed in a fantastic jacquard blazer worn over a gathered leather bra. In a mixed-gender show, the boys wore suits made of dense cotton with dried blood and great high-necked doublets with very wide cargo pants. Very cool for the racetracks and the nightclubs.

Rocco titled this collection ‘Ferrari Cabinet’ and it is a testament to his success that after seven collections, he has managed to create an identifiable style and look for the famous car brand. The cars have always been instantly recognisable with their energetic lines and leaping horse logo. Now, Ferrari fashion is too.

He also adorned the girls with futuristic, lighthouse-sized sunglasses and showed off boxy handbags in exotic Ferrari yellow. All of this gave way to a series of cocktails in suede, leather and iridescent microfibre in Ferrari red. In a show that culminated in a trio of couture automotive looks, three sparkling lace-cut ensembles, ideal for celebrating victory in Monte Carlo.