Gucci's Dark Glamour Kicks Off Milan Fashion Week

Fearless musketeers sashayed down the catwalk at the Gucci show on Wednesday, kicking off Milan Fashion Week with a stunning array of velvet capes dresses.

"This is modern-day romanticism. A dramatic sensuality, a dark glamour. With subtle tones of provocative intellect," designer Frida Giannini said.

And dark it was: models wearing a deep plum lipstick that was almost black stalked down the runway to pulsating beats, shooting looks to kill, in black leather capes and dresses in exotic animal prints and dark feathers.

The show opened with military-style jackets and equestrian-inspired trousers worn with flat riding boots and a bag closed with a stirrup clasp, before moving on to fur coats, mink-and-chiffon numbers and splendid flowing capes.

Bejewelled tassels and large bows hung from the neckline and waists of soft printed silk and velvet playsuits reminiscent of pyjamas and cut in masculine lines, as Gucci moved from "fearless femininity" to "dandy indulgence".