For the benefit of those who could not see clearly what was happening below knee-level on the catwalk, Prada conveniently positioned a screen above the audience to show video footage tracking the shoes on show. This device was particularly pertinent on Monday night, for the new Prada collection focuses sharply on shoes - brightly coloured cone-heeled styles, either courts or slingbacks, pointy-toed or rounded.
Although Miuccia Prada has made her mark as a fashion designer, like many old Italian family businesses Prada began as an accessory house and she decided to remind us of that this season. Recent collections have treated us to Sincere Chic - the return of the bourgeois look - and the beautifully flirty 1940s tweeds inspired by Brief En- counter for this winter. However, next spring, if you are a devotee of the label, expect to be wearing sober-looking full dirndl skirts, crew-neck jerseys and cropped jackets which sit back on the shoulders.
Much of the collection was in a sober palette of stormy greys - all the better to accent the bright shoes, but there was an injection of orange or yellow to remind us that we are looking at summer, lest we forget. The look was heavy-handed but there were appealing interludes, such as the polo shirts with slim draped jersey skirts teamed with a simple pair of court shoes.
For London-based Antonio Berardi, the response to his show was similarly lukewarm. There is always a flirty femininity to Berardi's clothes and he used to do the best laser-cut leathers on the catwalk both before and during his tenure at Italian leather house Ruffo Research. He has also had a hand in reviving the bright zinging geometrics at Pucci - a look which is a major influence on the high street this autumn.
However, for spring we are in for a sober season of sombre tailoring from his own collection and some highly dubious dresses with fabric drawn between the legs in nappie-like dhoti pants.
Aside from Prada and Berardi, the Milan collections have featured either the flash or the girlie sex-kitten look, so it was refreshing to find some colonial military styling coming down the catwalk at both MaxMara and sister label Sportmax yesterday. It suggested a backlash to the recent femininity, introducing a softly tailored masculine cut with safari jackets and combat suits in olive and khaki linen and hemp.
Skirts were A-line, shorts were brief and trousers tapered to the ankle finishing in cone-heeled shoes. Blouses were cut loose and billowed with fullness, and the armholes were cut deep to flash a hint of breast from the side. There were also pretty kimono shirts and dresses in printed silks or embroidered panne velvet, which were held in place with chunky military-style belts.