IT was "the big one", to quote Kim Winser, the chief executive.

Some 190 years after Robert Pringle went into the hosiery and underwear business, the famous Hawick knitwear label last night launched its most daring project on the catwalk in Milan.

In an old theatre on the outskirts of the city, the label's new ready-to-wear line for women, billed as "savage glamour", was unveiled against the dramatic backdrop.

The Pringle collection, designed since 2002 by Stuart Stockdale, has been a familiar sight on the London catwalk for the past three years, but it moved from London to Milan to pitch itself alongside the big brands such as Gucci, Fendi and Prada.

Stockdale guided a rapt audience through a collection inspired by the Highlands, to admire his bird and rose briar hand-intarsia sweaters, a faux fawn duffel coat and a thistleprint chiffon kilt for autumn.

Lily Donaldson opened the show in a faux fawn gilet and a checked kilt, followed by a succession of Argyll-inspired knits in gentle pink, duck egg blue, forest greens and brown, worn with pleated lace and satin kilt.

The romantic mood swept from country tweed jackets and knee-skimming skirts to pleated black chiffon and pink satin dresses.

Part of the Pringle collection was a limited edition celebration of its 19 decades in fashion.

Stockdale updated a series of early designs including silk camisoles originally produced in 1845 and blue suffragette stockings from the company's extensive archives in Hawick.

He said of the collection:

"It's very modern, very Scottish and it's about combining the traditional Scots rural element with something really glamorous.

"It's about a woman wearing a cashmere sweater under her gorgeous chiffon ballgown because she's in a freezing Scottish castle with no heating. It's fragility mixed with something that's quite wild. It's very modern, very Scottish."

After flagship openings in London, Tokyo and Taiwan, the catwalk in Milan - on the 70th anniversary of its famous signature twinset - marked the next step in building Pringle as an international contender in the fashion stakes.

Ms Winser said: "We are not a UK brand any more, we are a serious player and we are coming to where the people can look at what we are doing.

"We feel what Stuart Stockdale has done with the collection with its beautiful prints and knitwear should be launched in the right arena."

While it would not say it in so many words, Pringle this season, along with Aquascutum, which made its catwalk debut in London, and Daks, also showing in Milan for the first time, is hoping that some of Burberry's phenomenal success will rub off on it.

Burberry, a traditional British brand with a heritage in rainwear, has been turned into a multi-million dollar business in the past few years by Rose-Marie Bravo, its American chief executive, and Christopher Bailey, the former Gucci designer.

Bailey's high-end Burberry Prorsum collection has been the talk of Milan for many seasons for its sporty modernism and strictly subtle references to the brand's heritage - namely the checks and rainmacs.

The collection Bailey unveiled last night in Milan confirmed this new sporty but romantic vision with a tribute to John Lennon. There were his peaked caps, the bobbletrimmed stripy scarves and pea coats, but worn slipped over sweet arts and crafts print dresses, cashmere sweaters and country tweeds.

In London, Aquascutum's new designers, Michael Herz and Graeme Fidler, took Britain's other raincoat brand in a modern, sporty deluxe direction while still abstracting some of the heritage in the process.

Daks is doing the same with its new design team, Tiziano Mazilli and Louise Michielsens, the duo formerly behind Voyage, the Fulham Road shop that was a mecca to rock stars and models in the 1990s.

Like Burberry, Aquascutum and Pringle, it has ambitions of sitting alongside Gucci, Ferragamo and the big Italian brands but is seeking an edgy modernity.

Although it was the last show of a busy day that included Gucci and the Daks debut, the eager fashion press and buyers made the journey to the show to see what all the buzz was about.

Reaction was strong and positive with many commenting on the gentle prettiness of what they saw, in particular the woodland, flora and fauna inspired hand-intarsia sweaters.

It looks like Pringle's move to Milan was a wise one.