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And yet there is something reassuring in the recession downsizing of the moda machine. It's a return to fashion as it was before stardom struck the industry.
The current round of preview collections for the fall/winter 2009 is about real women dressing in a real world. Even if hard to afford, these are clothes women could and would want to wear, from the fitted jackets and slim pants, to the around-the-clock dresses and short skirts, to the refined rather than raunchy evening wear.
Footwear is high, but never reaches the danger level that sent several models crashing to the runway floor during last season's preview presentations. There are plenty of comfortable flats around too, even for evening.
The choice of a dark palette for next winter could be a reflection of global gloom, but it also marks a return to urban chic.
"These times call for styles which, far from scary, are reassuring, even familiar," Burberry designer Christopher Bailey told reporters before his Friday evening show in a renaissance palazzo in downtown Milan.
His show focused on comfort clothes - the kind real women want to wear - including ample double-breasted trench coats, classic dresses and pleated skirts, all in somber but comforting colors including slate gray, cafe latte and burgundy red.
Rubber-soled shoes sported a scary 7-inch (18-centimeter) heel, but were worn with reassuring gray woolen tights.
To underline the carefree feel of the collection, the models' hair swung loosely under felt hats with a smart leather band.
Earlier Friday, Giorgio Armani brought back the man-tailored power suit, which secured a place for the "moda Milanese" on the international fashion map in the 1980s. But the contemporary version is more feminine, with a small fitted jacket and slim elasticized pants.
"Those were the heydays of Italian fashion," Armani said referring to the 1980s. "Today's energy is less cocky."
This new energy was reflected not only in the softer suit, but the myriad of little black dresses with short hemlines, in elasticized silk and velvet. Worn with a pert, black, patent-leather beret, matching gloves and high heels, Armani predicts they will sell "like hot cakes."
Evening wear brought more surprises, in a return to the demure with long debutante gowns in embroidered silk worn with matching, low-heeled, embroidered boots.
After several seasons of toying with color, Armani is back to his urban palette with variations of gray, his favorite winter shade.
Modern woman
In the true spirit of "the show must go on," just a day after its parent company was granted bankruptcy protection from creditors, the Gianfranco Ferre fashion house was on the runway showing a collection for a modern woman, controlled but with a touch of whimsy, as in oversized bustles in the front or back of a skirt.
The designers Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi, who took over in April, stuck close to Ferre's strong architecture: shoulders were pointed and blouses featured high ruffled collars. Ferre died suddenly in the summer of 2007, shortly before the presentation of his menswear collection.
Also on Friday, the fun-loving Dolce & Gabbana designing duo presented their second line D&G collection, adding a reassuring dose of spice to the six days of preview presentations.
After all, Italy is the land of sexy styles, and although the mini-skirted evening gowns based on a night at the opera were more demure than daring, they did favor the boudoir over the ballroom.