Emporio Armani's blue rhapsody, Max Mara's '70s look hit catwalk

Milan - Miuccia Prada is not afraidof the past and her spring-summer 2015 collection showcased inMilan Thursday stands to prove it.

Undulating lilac-shaded sand dunes and the sound of the seawere the surreal catwalk setting for a confrontation betweencontemporary fashion and antiquity.

This "confrontation with antiquity" described by thedesigner resided in the collection's precious textures.

Intense brocades crafted on old looms oozed old grandeuryet had fronds of unravelling threads, their hems hinting theywere mere fragments of a bygone era.

On the other side were essential fabrics, including cottonand gauze, used to build severely-cut coats and dresses, theirmodern streamlined silhouettes enhanced by over-stitching.

It was a tug between 19th century glory and contemporaryausterity, rich and poor.

And this contrast between sensibility and reason shapedclassically-cut clothes in which every piece stood to prove thatnothing is as it seems - the sober dark coats with contrastinglight over-stitching, the boot-clogs, and the A-line dustercoats in black leather and brocade. Dark orange, bright green and bronze, together with black,were the shades of decidedly feminine clothing, with no desireto flirt with androgyny nor with nostalgia - just a testamentthat the beauty of the past can remain forever relevant infashion.

If brocades were central to Prada's storyline, the orchidappeared as a new Fendi logo.

First introduced in the fall 2014 collection in corsageform, the motif appeared printed, embroidered, appliqued andeven woven in suede for next spring.

Yet in spite of the floral inspiration and the baby blueand pink shades of a number of items, the collection did notcourt romance.

On the contrary, clothes had edge.

Short dresses were sharply cut - like an A-line black dresswith the orchid branding donned by star model Cara Delevingne ora little black dress with a sliced bodice.

Indeed, denim played a relevant role - a first in a Fendicatwalk.

Fresh denim pieces included jodhpur-shaped loose jeansmatched with a top featuring a geometric pattern.

The cropped jackets, slouchy pants and transparent skirtswere all very youthful.

As expected from Fendi, bags were one of the collection'sstaples and included new versions of the iconic Peekaboo andBaguette models, as well as the super-hit bag accessories suchas the Karlito.

Similarly, the Emporio Armani show one day earlier was anode to the intense beauty of blue.

"I had been toying for a while now with the idea of a'star' color helping create a mood without ethnic references,and blue is an international shade," Giorgio Armani said afterthe show. Blue has a "different softness and is less dictatorial"than black, added the designer.

And this re-discovery of the many hues of blue was enhancedby its alliance with white to shape a fresh and casualcollection.

The two colors shined on pant and skirt suits, includinghorizontal-striped ensembles.

Collection staples of high wearability featured slouchypants and cropped jackets. Armani also focused on texture, with semi-transparent PVCplaying a lead role in eveningwear.

And the 1970s that have provided such an interesting pitstop for designers debuting next spring's collections in Milan -Gucci in particular - were also central to Max Mara's clothes.

The brand's 1971 ad campaign starring Anjelica Houston wasthe starting point for a sophisticated collection enriched byfloral patterns yet subtly fresh thanks to the light fabrics andsoft, willowy shapes.

Max Mara's more bourgeois take on the hippie years wasapparent in the black-and-white tiny floral prints or bolderflower patterns of lightweight dresses and mid-calf skirts aswell as in the masculine monochromatic suit jackets.

The finely-cut coats proved once again to be a mainstay ofMax Mara's sophisticated makeover of this key decade.