Bold, brash, big and beautiful, Milan Fashion Week opened yesterday on an optimistic note. This week, 219 different designer label collections for spring/summer 2005 are competing for the attention of more than 1,600 fashion press and photographers and just as many buyers from 50 countries around the globe.[See Photos]

It is clearly not a time to be subtle if you want orders. The Milan-based designer Angelo Marani was determined to prove that nothing succeeds like excess.

His show blended the glitzy-ritzy celebrity style of Versace with the over-the-top opulence of Roberto Cavalli - and then some.