Prada, once again, wowed the fashion pack with a lace fuelled collection; this was not tacky lace, as it so easily could have been, but exquisite couture-like lace that spiralled florals around clean-lined silhouettes.

Christopher Bailey's latest installment for Burberry Prorsum also hit the right notes with fashion editors ranting about his Sixties style influences, cocoon coats, paisley print dresses and super-slick sateen trousers. Although they were a bit on the long side - and that was on those tall, leggy models!

Emerging trends so far - velvet, tartan (see D&G), 60s shapes, Victoriana, gothic and fringing have all been repeat offenders - although hem lengths have been variable. So much for the theory that hemlines rise in times in times of recession, however, it's great to see that we have some optimistic designers out there.

More from the Milan collections soon...