Glamazons D&g Stretch a Theme

Self defence and protective clothing has been a theme of Milan fashion week. Elbow-length hawking gloves and leather mittens the size of boxing gloves are just some of the accessories set to become next autumn's must-haves.

Yesterday Dolce & Gabbana, the self-styled exhibitionists of Milan fashion - a title for which there is, as you can imagine, considerable competition - took it upon themselves to push the theme a little further.

On to the mirrored catwalk came glamazons flashing padlocked steel corset belts and brandishing diamante whips. Masks and silky corsets imbued the clothes worn beneath - which were often, when you looked closely, neat trousersuits and chic sheath dresses - with the tang of sex. Leopard-print dresses and coats came shrouded under a veil of black net, the very embodiment of Dolce & Gabbana's signature Sicilian black widow aesthetic. But just in case anyone had missed the point, the designers enlisted the services of catwalk sexpot Gisele Bundchen, after five years of retirement from the catwalk, to bring the clothes to life with her familiar high-stepping runway prowl.

The show ended with a succession of sinewy floor length dresses. Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana will be hoping that they catch the eye of any starlet still undecided as to what to wear on the Oscar red carpet on Sunday night.

Earlier, British designer of the year Giles Deacon, fresh from his triumphant own-label show in London last week, made his debut as designer at Daks. Deacon brought a taste of London fashion whimsy to Milan: a hat that looked as if a slab of plasterboard had fallen on a model's head, and an alice band decorated with a giant bow made of mesh.