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MILAN (Reuters) - Designers to the stars Dolce & Gabbana opened the gates of fashion heaven on Sunday in a spectacular catwalk show featuring drones, one of the last events of Milan’s popular fashion week.

Church chants welcomed guests with the gates of heaven used as a background to the catwalk. “Fashion Devotion” read a golden sign over golden gates and a flurry of angels and clouds.

At the show’s start, bells chimed, the gates opened and drones flew out, carrying the brand’s handbags down the catwalk.

In previous shows the famous designer duo had asked young so-called influencers to showcase their designs, turning to bloggers and Instagrammers who have millions of followers and are seen as style icons by their fans. But this time Dolce & Gabbana returned to professional models.

The collection, rich and opulent as usual by Dolce & Gabbana, featured church-influenced designs such as a big black cape draped over a white t-shirt, a priest collar combined with an elegant damasked tuxedo and a cassock-looking dress with red finishes paired with high-heeled red sandals.

Other references to heaven included cartoon-esque angels wearing sunglasses, which were on skirts and on a ornate bronze bomber jacket, with wings coming out of the model’s back.

“Fashion sinner”, “D&G devotion” and “Santa moda ora pro nobis” – Holy fashion pray for us - read some of the clothes, with reference to prayers.

The fall-winter 2018/19 collection also intertwined all of the fashion house’s iconic traits such as black lace, tight-fitting black dresses, veils, references to Italy’s southern traditions and costumes as well as flowers.

Other designs were bright and glittered and paired with exuberant accessories, such as a big pink wig, glass frames with cartoon exclamations and neon green fur stilettos.