Prada Pays Tribute to The Orient in Milan

Prada paid tribute to the Orient on the second day of Milan Fashion Week on Thursday in a collection which blurred the boundaries between East and West in a modern take on after-hour glamour.

Models sauntered down the catwalk in luxurious kimono-inspired dresses and short-suits. Black was the dominant colour of the show, broken up by large white embroidered flowers or flashes of electric pink on cuffs or necklines.

Soft cocoon dresses and feminine suit jackets, worn with shorts or over short dresses, were given a modern twist with wide, angular layers overlapping at the front -- and jazzed up with towering gold or white platform shoes.

Like Gucci, which took to the catwalk on Wednesday, Prada presented a new take on the pyjama trend which was such a hit this year among celebrities and fashionistas -- and both fashion houses looked to the Orient for inspiration.

There were a few charcoal, green and white creations -- a series of white furs decorated with the flower motif in red caught the eye -- and a blue dress with high neckline and sleeves to the elbow which stunned in its simplicity.

Jackets were wrapped and tied at the back and skirts were slit up the side and worn with flat gold boots to mid-calf or white sandals over pink socks.

The show for the new 2013 spring-summer designs by the Milanese company, which began in 1913 as a luggage maker for Italy's kings in the famous Galleria Umberto, was held in a former warehouse decked out in black and white.

The show started late as per tradition but received wild applause.