As the fashion circus moves to Paris, Giorgio Armani closed the Milan Autumn/Winter 2000 collection on Saturday night with a clearly controlled and refined collection in black and white.
The show opened with sexy, tightly-fitted jackets intricately worked in bands of black leather, worn over velvet trousers and with white-stitched black patent brogues.
Some classic Armani jackets are more nipped in at the waist this season and cut in a tiny black-and-white checked wool or herringbone velvet.
The beautifully-beaded evening wear had to be made at the last minute - because Armani only took delivery of the embroidery from India at the beginning of last week - but there was time to make skimpy tops, mosaic-beaded gilets and long slender gowns that looked set for Oscar-dressing later next month.
In the audience was Lady Helen Taylor, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Kent, who is back with the House as consultant. She spent eight years with Armani before switching to Calvin Klein for a year. She is now back to participate in many of the charity events that will surround this year's 25th anniversary of the founding of Giorgio Armani.
The twin peaks of Milan fashion are Armani and Versace, two houses that represent vastly different customers. Donatella Versace's show, one of the closing highlights of the week, delivered its usual high-voltage glamour. This meant big hair, high heels, the signature gold Medusa head medallion, the revived statement belts and elegant-but-daring evening wear. Donatella proved she has finally hit her stride as designer for the house with the atelier collection in January. The ready-to-wear line shows she is as adept with intricately worked prints and delicate fabrics - which she pleated, twisted and swathed around the body - as her late brother Gianni.
Prints are a key theme this season and hers were worked in a vortex of swirling psychedelic-colour. She also pulled out for couture beautiful, finely-pleated Chantilly lace cocktail dresses.
These minutely-pleated lace, tulle and chiffon cocktail dresses also appeared at Alberta Ferretti, who showed one of her prettiest collections of late. Her feel for couture cocktail wear echoes a mood that has swung through Milan this week for elegant, grown-up fashion.
Milan's love affair with sportswear is over and fashion has shifted to a more lady-like attitude.
At times, however, this demand for serious fashion has tipped over into vulgarity, with an excessive use of fur and glitz for its high-spending customers.
There were, however, collections lyrical in style - namely Prada, Narciso Roderiguez, Alberta Ferretti, Versace and Jil Sander.
Jil Sander bows out of her eponymous label this season, having fallen out with Prada chief Patrizio Bertelli, who bought a 75 per cent stake in her house last year with plans to develop the label in his small, but swelling luxury fashion group. Bertelli is on the lookout for a replacement for Sander, and Hussein Chalayan, who was recently made British Fashion Designer of the Year for the second year running, is one of the names in the loop for the job.
All eyes are on Bertelli this week, although his eyes seem to be firmly set on the America's Cup.