RUNWAY TO REALITY : Designers Dig Trenches

The short trench coat has a new place in fashion. Now it’s a dress. Designers worldwide added it to their spring collections and continued it for fall. Fabrics include waterproof blends as well as luxury silks and satins.

Italian Miuccia Prada designed her’s in opulent silk faille, in colors such as lavender and steel gray, for $1,430. (She also did a more practical version in a waterproof silk-nylon blend for $630.)

The lavender snakeskin hot pants worn with it were designed exclusively for the Prada runway show. But Prada boutiques carry a satin version, in colors such as royal blue, steel gray and black, for $260. The strappy snakeskin mules are $455. The double-handled handbag, in pumpkin or purple, is $730. The total: $2,875, at Prada, Beverly Hills.

Italian-born, Los Angeles-based Elisabetta Rogiani, whose label is Nobody, also designed a trench-coat dress for spring. It is nylon but looks like silk and is available in a rainbow of colors for $189. Rogiani’s trench is sold at Tiziana, Los Angeles, and Traction Avenue, Beverly Center. Tiziana also carries matching hot pants for $58. The strappy sandals in royal blue are available at JC Penney, Culver City, for $35. The white canvas handbag is $8.80 at Millie’s, Los Angeles. Total cost of this designer look-alike outfit, including accessories: $290.80.