Milan fashion week kicks off

In Italy photographers are busy keeping up with the latest trends.

Checks, stripes and Sofia-Loren inspired femininity  are some of the fashion trends kicking off Milan's  Fashion Week.

Checks, stripes and Sofia-Loren inspired femininity are some of the fashion trends kicking off Milan's Fashion Week. Designer Rocco Barocco shows off black and white checks dabbed with scarlet and violet for his winter 2008 womenswear collection.

Meanwhile Valeria Marini is turning bedroom into ballroom looks.

In his winter 2008-2009 womenswear collection, Barocco focuses on big black-and-white hounds-tooth checks for wool dresses, skirts and wide-leg, high-waisted trousers.

He uses the same design on silk for evening dresses with undulating hems, worn with spiky high heels that come in red and black.

Black held sway in a stunning Venetian-inspired evening coat with black glittering embroidery and quilted inside, but splashes of scarlet, violet and yellow throughout the collection lift the monochrome mood.

Valeria Marini's "Diamond Seduction" womenswear show was full of femininity, inspired by the classic Italian looks of actressm Sophia Loren.

A black full-skirted short dress is splattered with crystal raindrops, and topped with a big floppy hat in the same design.

Shoes are silver and sky-high, or black and shiny.

An American beauty dress in raspberry ruffles sweeping to the floor was worn in a cascade of poppy petals, echoing the film.

The Milan Fashion Week will run until this Saturday.