Movies and shakers: cinema meets couture at Milan fashion week

A film reel whirrs, the soundtrack starts, then action! Roberto Cavalli paid homage to cinema, a two-way relationship that has been one of the themes at Milan fashion week, which ended on Monday.

"Welcome to my movie set!" the silver-maned Cavalli, dressed in a black suit and sunglasses, greeted journalists at the start of the catwalk show, sweeping his arm across a vast marquee tent with spotlights and celluloid decorations.

Models dressed like glamorous 1930s film stars paraded in an array of shimmering figure-hugging gowns with furs thrown over the shoulder.

Whites, blacks and silvers dominated the spring-summer 2014 collection, which conveyed a sense of high elegance, plus Cavalli's signature sensuality with see-through and backless lace dresses that left little to the imagination.

Cavalli, whose German Shepherd "Lupo" (wolf in Italian) kept inquisitive reporters in check, said he wanted an "eccentric, romantic and exuberant" look.

There were also jackets and trousers made from a patchwork of python, iguana and crocodile skins along with denim, a return to wildlife themes for Cavalli, who is known for his leopard-print clothes.

Cavalli said he had looked to the film world because fashion and cinema shared the same inspiration - "an artistic vision that uses the best artisanal techniques to give life to a place where dreams become possible".