Evangelista opens punk-inspired show for D&G

Linda Evangelista came out of semi-retirement to open the autumn/winter 2003 presentation from Dolce & Gabbana in Milan yesterday.

The model began the show in a bright orange quilted parka and backpack, followed by Naomi Campbell in a pinstriped suit and orange trilby. Dolce & Gabbana, the Italian duo famous for their high-voltage sex aesthetic, used Day-Glo colours and punk styling to update simple pieces, as in the grass green and electric blue quilted coats of exaggerated proportions or in a beautiful black trenchcoat worn with grass-green tights and lime-green stilettos. The punk styling – apparent in shaved, black mink coats with silver hook-and-eye or popper-stud fastenings and chokers and necklaces of bunched keys – gave the show a rebellious energy.

Dolce & Gabbana's Magimix of styles – the old with the new, the precious with the trashy – fused delicate floral-printed chiffon baby doll dresses with 80s skiing jackets. The duo's hallmark, Sicilian gangster tailoring, was there in suits that juxtaposed volume and fit, with whole sections of clothes fastened together with buttons.

Trouser legs were sliced in half and connected at the knee, jackets had panels and sleeves that were attached together, and white shirts were covered in tiny buttons that pulled and gathered the fabric when they were fastened.

But while the day wear might have been searching for a new direction, the evening wear was what we have come to expect from Italian fashion's answer to Viagra. Satin lace-up corset dresses, tiered tassel dresses and whole frocks of crystal, all in a palette of black and nude, will be Oscar-night winners.