Dolce & Gabbana show gallery of gowns, Versace vivid

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian designers Dolce & Gabbana turned out artists' paint-spattered canvases as gorgeous gowns on Thursday in a finale to their spring and summer womenswear show.

The black background dresses were splashed and whirled with white and daubed with magenta, or bright green, pink and purple. The canvas-like fabric was bundled into ball gowns that seemed as if the models had swirled themselves in the cast-off canvas of a painter's studio.

Designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana told Reuters the idea for the collection came from the hall of the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York, where baroque divans are set against a background of huge contemporary paintings.

"There were these baroque divans, which are very Dolce & Gabbana, with these huge paintings and it was there that we got the idea to ... dedicate a collection to contemporary art," Stefano Gabbana told Reuters in an interview after the show.

The gowns were preceded by more paint-spattered outfits, ranging from T-shirts through slim-fit short dresses and even high-heeled shoes.

The baroque divans turned up in heavy crimson brocade or green velvet and gold fabric, which was used for short skirts that flared fully from the waist, or for a square-necked straight dress.

Dolce & Gabbana also kept with the wide-leg trousers that had debuted at their D&G line show on Monday, dubbed "elephant foot", but this time in beige brocade rather than denim.

Bags were also oversized, hanging from models' hands to finish at ankle height and sporting a purse-like pocket, or the size of business envelopes in turquoise and beige, hanging from a gold chain.

There were none of the animal prints that had dominated the duo's winter collection in February. Domenico Dolce said the mood was less aggressive without being too sugary.

"There are no bows, no flowers, no lace. It's very linear, so rather than romantic, we call it sensual," he said.

VERSACE'S VIVID COLOURS

Donatella Versace used vivid colors for a twist to a flowing, languid look in dresses in her show -- which started by paying homage to Luciano Pavarotti who died earlier this month with his trademark "Nessun Dorma" aria from Puccini's Turandot.

The designer took hot pinks and oranges to sharpen up softly pleated gowns that seemed tied together rather than tailored.

She used a classic shirtdress style for daywear, or shorts and a shirt, again ringing the changes with bolts of color.

Shoes were just as bright with sculpted heels, while handheld bags were art-folder sized in white or metallics.

Necklines were high and demure, elongated into a slim scarf that was thrown over the shoulder, while at the back, dresses were scooped low.

Versace rounded off the show with variations on a long, slim, soft evening silhouette, using a palette of colors that included jade, yellow, pink and electric blue.