Milan Fashion Week top trends: Patterns, metallics and velvet

After seven days of catwalk presentations, Milan Fashion Week came to a close February 28. Here is a roundup of some of the event's biggest trends, including clashing prints and capped shoes.

Accessories certainly took their time to shine in Italy, with hats seeming to be almost mandatory on the runway. Headgear went Western at Moschino, where cowboy hats were the order of the day, while there was a sense of fun at Blugirl with fluffy Smurf-style headwear. Meanwhile, military style caps could be seen at MaxMara, berets at Emporio Amarni and bow-adorned hats fit for a gymkhana at DSquared2.

In terms of footwear, there was one trend which emerged across all shoe types -- toecaps. At Bottega Veneta a patent variety added a luxe feel to pointy-toe boots, while silver toe pumps offered sparkle to pumps at Emilio Pucci. Metal toe caps adorned Just Cavalli's slinky ankle strap heels, while at Marni black toe caps, heels and criss-cross straps adorned white shoes for a monochrome effect.

Fabric-wise, this season in Milan it had to be velvet, with the smooth material adorning 1970s-style tuxedos at Genny and V-neck dresses at Mantu. Gucci was also taken with the luxe fabric, where highlights included a long printed velvet gown in forest green. Emporio Armani favored a crushed velvet style in gray and a smoother look in royal blue, while Bottega Veneta opted for floral print velvet.

While the expected leopard print and color blocking did appear, colorful patterns were all over the runway in Milan, with head-to-toe geometric prints at Prada seen in tones ranging from lime green to orange. Paisley prints were seen at Etro, while patchwork-inspired prints clashed at Missoni. Versus and Antonio Marras preferred floral or circular patterns, while Gabriele Colangelo showed graphic abstract patterns and a Maltese cross pattern made an impact at Aquilano.Rimondi.

Regarding color, there were plenty of citrus tones, pretty pastels and dark gothic influences, but the overall standout tone was silver. 1950s-inspired prom dresses sparkled at Lorenzo Riva, while metallics were teamed with pretty pastels at Byblos. Standout pieces at Blumarine included a stiff silver PVC trenchcoat, while at Versace chainmail dresses were adorned with silver paneling and at Dolce & Gabbana silver and gold embroidery was ubiquitous.