Rocco Barocco 2008 Show

MILAN, Sep 24 (Reuters) Italian fashion designer Rocco Barocco put a broken mirror effect on clingy cocktail dresses for his spring and summer 2008 show , while Clips used feathers to finish long, slim evening gowns.

Barocco used jagged-edged metal pieces to create the look, while his short dresses in black or sparkling white lattice weave won applause from the audience on the second day of shows.

Models sported big sunglasses and had swept up their hair into exaggerated French pleats in the fashion show yesterday.

Barocco's collection stuck primarily to black, white and silver but there were prints with splashes of petrol blue or cherry pink, used in a pleated panel to flip cheekily over black shorts.

Pink and petrol put a shimmer on high-heeled shoes as well, while bags were tiny and shiny.

A white tunic ran straight to the thigh over snow leopard print trousers in chiffon - a fabric that is emerging as an early trend in the collections.

Clips used chiffon for long, slim evening dresses in violet, black or deep pink, covering them in feathers from the thigh.

Silk cocktail dresses in demure straight lines had sexy, see-through panels over breasts, while a fifties-style dress in emerald green silk sported narrow pleats in its full flouncy skirt.

Daywear used crisp, embroidered cotton for a dress with puff sleeves and a swirling skirt, or sand coloured silk for short jackets over straight dresses.

''I like Clips a lot, fashion has to be simple, classy like this.

It's turning back to the taste of a time past,'' said Chiara Merlini, who buys for her family's shop. The womenswear shows run until Sept. 29 and Monday sees the start of the big name presentations, including D&G and Giorgio Armani yesterday. Armani announced a deal with Samsung Electronics to produce mobile phones and television sets.

Today is the last show of Gianfranco Ferre, who had prepared the designs before his death in June.