After his show today, Giambattista Valli admitted he's finally got his two worlds sorted: Prêt-à-porter is inspired by his personal experiences; haute couture is his fantasy. Where once they were borderline, now there is no dialogue between the two. So his latest collection flowed on organically from Spring, particularly in the casual interplay of masculine and feminine elements.

Then Valli went in the opposite direction: dressing up casual sportswear looks like a tracksuit in a Swarovski-ed eau de nil, or the zipped blouson and matching pants under a coat of red astrakhan. Zips stood out all over the place because they were paired with some subtly impressive fabric treatments: glazing, lacquering, brocading. It was, Valli said, his way of conveying the alchemy that takes place in an urban environment, where clothes acquire an appealing patina from their environment (moths chewing their way through knitwear being perhaps the most aggressive example).