A lot of designers exclude that reality, and of course what you are left with are terms that anyone can access. Sexy. Pretty. Tough. Ms. Prada thinks fashion, and women, deserve more than that.

From her latest collection, shown on Thursday at the start of the Milan fall season, one could conclude that Ms. Prada wants women to ignore anorexic celebrities and anxious-making editors, and enjoy. Eat that bagel! The clothes had a voluptuous, filled-out look. Certainly there's pressure on the industry at the moment to show different body types.

But were those pointy or ruffled-covered bosoms really about diversity? Not only were many of the clothes structured, with long sleeves and a waist set where it naturally belongs, but they also recalled the early 1960s and rigid rules of charm. A number of dresses, with firm bodices and matronly pleats, seem designed to evoke a stultifying existence.

The problem is Ms. Prada doesn't know what to do with these older forms other than offer them. And the clichés and social attitudes have been thoroughly explored, so why now? Some of the clothes, especially the cable knits and slick-looking coats, may have an appeal, but the thought process did not seem very sophisticated.

By contrast, the clothes for Fendi looked modern and relaxed. Karl Lagerfeld seems to have two lines of attack at Fendi: either he is futuristic, all plastic surfaces and sharp edges, or he is, well, Karl. That can mean a woodsy, hard-to-identify palette of loden, navy, cream and mustard. But at its best, it means a wonderful sense of composition with random bits of history.

Some of the shorter dresses and coats, with plain round necks and full sleeves turned back at the cuff, suggested a worker's smock or something practical for working outdoors. Ribbed boots had rubber toes. There were also long skirts with delicate drawstring waists. At the same time, the treatment of fur was unlike anything shown this season. Down the front of those plain-looking coats, Mr. Lagerfeld arranged oblong pieces of natural fur in a collage.

A pounding of drums, a racing motor — and Donatella Versace was off down a very different track on Friday night. Ms. Versace's recent collections have been stubbornly feminine; one may recall she closed her show last season with a rainbow display of goddess dresses, along with the vague impression that the models were clones of the blond designer.

This time she has toughened up everything, with motorcycle-inspired leathers, bold coats that combined wools and fur, and metallic leather miniskirts and shifts meant to evoke chrome. Ms. Versace skipped the signature prints and instead focused on cool intarsia knits and textured collage effects. The collection felt a bit industrial and retreaded at times, but a spree of split-front minidresses seemingly cut on the body — snip, snip, snip — looked charged with new energy.

The designers at Gianfranco Ferré, Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi, spent the first couple of seasons at the house trapped in clichés of their own. By simplifying the lines and using fewer dazzling materials, they freed themselves and put out a pretty good collection.

Slim dark coats and suits that combined gold-flecked wool and black leather (and sometimes fur) had wide belts for a jolt of Ferré drama. There were also some lovely dresses in beige jersey with satin-covered seams and wand sleeves. Evening dresses were goddess-sleek, with bibs or a single spiral of hammered gold paillettes.

The designers remain smitten with an imposing elegance that doesn't feel relaxed or all that contemporary, but at least they have let a few ideas go.

Alberta Ferretti's nipped-waist coats touched on the season's hourglass shape. The coats were ultra feminine, with fur sleeves and a geometric pattern of seams across the back. The collection was loaded with texture — pleats, beading, ribbing, metallic shag skirts. But somehow, the standout coats didn't have an equal in the dresses.