The designer moved the Gianni Versace brand so far from flash and bling that even the buttons on a short geometric coat were concealed, the better to streamline the look. Dresses were often shown with an angular strap. Pants were pencil-thin and shoes were set on metal pin heels.

There was only one decorative element: prints. They appeared not only on the dresses but were projected as a frieze in the theater, where the models paced the runway in the round. The images at first seemed disconcerting: naked bodies with canine heads and a jumble of urban buildings.

But they were in fact an interpretation of Versace elements from flowers to homewares.

Prints were the work of the Berlin-based Dutch artist Timothy Roeloffs, who had formed a collage using iconic images from Versace's history.

The fact that they were used on simple shift dresses in the show - perhaps a sundress shape with square straps - underlined the creative ease which the designer is now displaying at the house.

This is, of course, the same Donatella who invited her showbiz pals - the singer Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas and Patrick Dempsey, star of the television series "Grey's Anatomy" - as front-row paparazzi fodder and later entertained them at dinner in the Versace Palazzo.

In spite of this familiar scenario, as a designer, Versace is pushing herself ahead. She has changed the architecture of her designs to create a strong, independent woman but not the Amazonian creature who would have been a reference for Versace in the 1980s.

There was a new sharp cut to the coats achieved by stitching sun rays of darts to control volume at the back. Two short-sleeved furs (a strong Milan trend) came in tulip pink and beige, offering shaggy surfaces, while fabric for the dresses alternated between shiny or slippery. Even the clutch bags had a new tough chic.

The colors, too, were fresh - steel gray and bright navy with shots of purple, fuchsia and rose.

The show ended - as so few in Milan have this season - with simple but stunning gowns that Versace deserves to get on the Oscars's red carpet on Sunday.

And maybe one daring dresser might even consider a slender shiny black dress stopping midcalf and looking the epitome of Versace's sophistication today.

Suzy Menkes is fashion editor at the International Herald Tribune.