( Reuters ) - Supermodel Naomi Campbell turned up on Saturday for a sparkling start to Milan's spring and summer 2008 womenswear shows, wearing an emerald-sequined swimsuit to launch the "Miss Bikini LUXE" collection.
Campbell, in town to promote her Fashion for Relief charity, strode down the catwalk to the tune of "It Began in Africa", by The Chemical Brothers, which kicked off the collection by Alessandra and Francesca Piacentini.
The duo are giving 150 bikinis and cocktail dresses to sell on the charity's Web site to gather funds for the victims of Britain's worst floods in 60 years, which caused billions of pounds in damage and drove thousands from their homes.
Fashion for Relief says it has already given $1 million to help in the United States after Hurricane Katrina.
The LUXE collection, which departs from the designers' traditional swimwear line into dresses and wraps, mixed skimpy bikinis with floaty seventies and animal print wraps. Wide leather studded belts and armbands provided a clashing contrast.
Valeria Marini used underwear as outerwear for her Diamond Seduction collection, with elongated lace bodices worn as cocktail dresses and chiffon evening wraps that could easily slip into negligees.
Marini, who sported a pink kiss tattooed on her arm, ran a series of famous film kisses as a backdrop to the collection and a soundtrack which included snatches from Bizet's "Carmen".
On one model, a necklace of black chandelier drops lay heavily on a see-through dress in grey and yellow animal print that split at the crotch to drift into a train at the back.
In contrast, shocking pink and turquoise satin turned slips into stunning short dresses or elegant shirts for the evening.