Feature: Milan fashion week pays tribute to music

Live performances, previously unpublished music, and music icons were front and center at the menswear fashion week, which closes Tuesday in the Italian fashion capital.

Dolce&Gabbana invited the fashion crowd to have a taste of a Sicilian jazz festival with echoes of New Orleans and the Copa Cabana resounding along the checkerboard runway.

Rafferty Law, son of British actor Jude Law, walked the runaway in a jacket with illustrations of jazz musicians.

The embroidered, sequined, and mismatching suits, jackets or sweatshirts were decorated in a mix and match of exotic fruit, musical instrument, and animal patterns.

Live music played by American jazz band The Hot Sardines provided the accompaniment for the runway.

"We imagined being in Sicily, attending a festival, a concert...," Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana said presenting their collection, which was called "DG Musica" and contained musical embroideries and illustrations throughout.

"The mix and match of leopard, pineapples, musical instruments and dancing scene prints are harmoniously mixed, in order to give a very personalized style to everyone as much as the music does."

The two Italian designers explained they merged jazz and swing, pop, dance and rap to create a timeless continuum of genres.

At the end of their show, the jazz band continued to play, turning the after party into a live music festival.

Dolce&Gabbana was not the only fashion house to include musical elements in their new collections at Milan fashion week. Other brands, such as Versace, Vivienne Westwood, and Dsquared2 also transformed their runways into a combination of fashion and music.

Donatella Versace paid tribute to the late American music legend Prince, capping her runway show with a black ruffle shirt, and Prince's own purple color suit, in reference to the artist's Purple Rain costume.

In the new collection, summer coats brought a new ease, from ultra-light long parkas of near transparent nylon, to open weave flowing trench coats. The Versace silk shirt was reborn as a zip-up blouson, with iconic prints over-dyed to create a deep and intense color palette for summer, including olive, blue, grey, sand, and Prince's purple.

The runway throbbed to a soundtrack of never-before-heard songs written and recorded as a gift to the brand's chief designer Donatella Versace by Prince.

Dsquared2 made its show day "David Bowie-day." Canadian designers Dean and Dan Caten shook up the menswear scene by showing platform glam rock ankle booties. "Call it the David Bowie effect," said Christian Allaire, a professional fashion journalist for Footwear News.

The new collection of British designer Vivienne Westwood also recalled some rock'n'roll greats, like the fringed jackets and military embellishments of American rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix, fishnet details and toga dresses of English singer Marianne Faithfull, and the overdone velvet jackets of Brian Jones, the founder and original leader of the Rolling Stones.

Why did so many designers involve music elements in their shows? According to Dolce&Gabbana, music is full of history, which "leaves a mark in the moments of our life, certainly the beautiful ones that lead us to remember unforgettable, glamorous and special memories." Endit