Fiesta is the word which springs to mind from day five of Milan Fashion Week. The Dolce & Gabbana runway morphed into a street party complete with carnival lights, Missoni was ready to salsa at any given point and the Salvatore Ferragamo models were dressed for a V.I.P only event. Whilst Versus may not have had a party theme, they certainly had fun with a basketball and cheerleader inspired collection. Other notable shows were Marni and Aquilano.Rimondi, however they were well behaved and better dressed by day.

The Dolce & Gabbana collection was a celebration. The runway decked out with colourful festival lights hosted a mass of designs that made the fashion crowd smile. The show was all about being Italian. Southern Italian. Opening the show were print stories of supersized vegetables and fruits. The produce garments came in the form of summer dresses with flared skirts, playsuits and midriffs with full skirt combinations (a must ensemble for the season).  The collection then moved into Sophia Loren inspired lace work that was covered in same fabric lace floral appliqués. Lace was bravely mixed with perspex on hourglass dresses and coats, a experiment that paid-off tremendously. The final story tied in the carnival lights with a series of dresses, bodysuits and hot pants covered in rainbow coloured crystals. This collection is a positive step for the house who is merging their D&G label with Dolce & Gabbana as of next season. Salute!

If you couldn’t make it to Stefano and Domenico’s street carnival you would have gone straight to Missoni’s flamenco ball. Angela Missoni designed a collection that continued to fortify her new direction for the house since her last spring summer collection. This collection was surprising and energetic. Ruffles, zebra print, fringing, crochet all came together in a Brazilian rain-forest palette. The clothes had so much movement designed into them, they looked as if they were dancing. Outrageous ruffles spiced up dresses with long and lean silhouettes, edged the hems of flamenco dresses and  hugged the hips of hot pants. If the introduction of Zebra print had any significance, one could think the wildness is starting to fire  up inside the Missoni brand. And the fashion world loves it.

Salvatore Ferragamo is also going out for SS12, but more of the exclusive invite only event. Massimiliano Giornetti has produced a divine collection of modern dynasty style clothes. Multi-coloured silk leopard print formed slinky three-quarter length cocktail dresses, pencil skirts and blouses with deep necklines. There was a strong focus on the waist, with dresses, skirts and pants all tying at the waist with indulgent bows. Colour blocking in violet, raspberry and aqua worked effortlessly. The final floor length were cut so beautifully they looked fluid.

Versus didn’t going without having fun either. Donatella Versace and Christopher Kane sent out their collection on a basketball court marked in pastel colours. The experimentation with warm-up jackets, cheer leader skirts and scoreboards resulted in a tight collection that mixed a fun idea with wearable design. The light colours made for a pretty collection that bordered on preppy. Definitely a win for Versace and Kane.

Two labels who avoided the madness but also delivered collections of note, were Marni and Aquilano.Rimondi. The foundation of the Marni collection was retro patterns in modern cuts with a dash of school girl cute. The sharp cuts of the clothing made the geometric and floral prints, which were 70s inspired, feel current. The collection was not as quirky as usual but very covet-able. The duo from Aquilano.Rimondi sent a out a stunning collection in pale tones that was reminiscent of the artisan works carved into the plaster on decadent ceilings. The similarity between their collection and Mary Katrantzou’s famous hotel lobby collection was apparent, however the beauty of the clothes is all to the credit of Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi.