Dolce & Gabbana shows its love for millennials at Milan Fashion Week

Dolce & Gabbana took Millennial-loving to the next level Sunday with a catwalk show that saw models, social media celebrities and cool teens strut down the catwalk to cheers from the audience.

The Italian fashion house is just one of several luxury brands hoping to build up a loyal support base among the so-called Millennials -- those born after 1980, who came of age in the 21st century and are social media gluttons. It was D & G's second courtship of young influencers following a star line-up at its January menswear show, but this time it pulled out all the stops with a parade of 99 A-listers and their offspring which almost distracted from the collection.

The clothes themselves were trademark D & G fare: designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana went big and bold with animal prints, sparkling princess crowns and big red hearts on slinky gold mini-dresses. The spectacle kicked off with US singer Austin Mahone crooning Modjo's 2000 hit "Lady (Hear Me Tonight)" as a pianist tinkled the ivories of a grand piano, then segued into his award-winning beat-pumping 2013 song "What about Love".

The show was fun, most of those walking the catwalk for the first time breaking into wide grins as they spotted friends in the audience, or dancing along with Mahone, who had buyers in the crowd blushing as he snaked around them. There may have been quite a few sexy, revealing looks, and some gyrating from Mahone, but the show was predominately a family affair, with parents and children or siblings walking the catwalk together.

Unicorns, rockets and bears

On the front row cheering them on was Pamela Anderson, whose son Dylan Lee was modelling, and Oscar-winning actor Jamie Foxx, whose daughter Corinne was also walking the runway. Model Amanda Harvey and her husband were first out with two small children, who they carried down the catwalk as they showed off a D & G spin on black-tie wear -- dressing-gown style coats with dozens of pictures of cats on them.

Gabriele Kane Day-Lewis -- actor Daniel Day-Lewis's son -- sported a suit with a rocket on it, while Rafferty Law -- Jude Law's son -- showed off a suit with unicorns embroidered onto the pockets. Like Versace, which showed earlier this week, some of the models sported hats with one-word slogans on them, such as "Princess" or "Queen". Some wore the word "ROYAL" as a crown, others had fresh flowers and leaves in their hair. Roses were a key theme on the clothes, as were bows and large musical notes done in sparkling silver.

The award for the quirkiest piece went to two bear-themed coats with animal heads as hoods, one of which featured a baby bear as the coat's clasp, the other with a baby bear on the back as a bag. The invitations to the autumn-winter 2017 show were spaceship themed and spacemen prints appeared on bags and dresses. One model from a fashionable galaxy far, far away sported a red PVC raincoat with a spaceman hood.

Milan fashion week continues until Monday, when Giorgio Armani unveils his collection, but as the pink champagne flowed and Dolce and Gabbana came out for an emotional bow it was clear that this show would be hard to top.(AFP)

Photos: Dolce & Gabbana AW17 Milan Fashion Week, own website