Italian fashionistas in a tizzy over Anna Wintour

Italian fashion houses are up in arms over what they regard as a snub delivered by Anna Wintour. The power-wielding editor-in-chief of American Vogue is apparently limiting her trip to Milan fashion week to just four days, hardly enough time for all the brands vying for her attention to stage their shows.

Miss Wintour stays at least a week in Paris and New York and this year made a rare appearance in London (signalling its return to fashion significance) so it's not surprising the Italians are feeling dissed.

According to the Wall Street Journal, designers in Milan have been more chaotic than usual  as they try to cram the fashion shows into the time Wintour plans to be there. Organisers have already reshuffled the schedule three times in the past two months as new word of Wintour's travel plans reached the city.

If further enhancement of Wintour's reputation was needed, the fuss is proof that little gets done in high fashion without Wintour's say-so. She has emerged emboldened after rumours of her professional demise circulated a year ago. Her defacto power to appoint (and to dismiss) designers and generally steer the direction of luxury clothes design is undiminished.

Her approval prefigures the endorsement of a Vogue photo shoot that in turn can lead to celebrity endorsements and orders from retailers.

But Wintour's unpredictable plans have pitted fashion houses against one another for a weekend slot. The sickly economic climate for luxury goods has made competition for attention especially intense.

Prada and Valentino, two of the biggest names, are struggling under heavy debt loads; others like Armani will soon have to make tough succession choices. Gianfranco Ferre is in bankruptcy; Versace says it will cut a quarter of its workforce.

Despite Wintour's assurance that she's "going to Italy to cover all the shows that I normally cover" there are reports of discontent. "One woman can stay as many days as she wants, but don't terrorise us by saying she'll only stay three days," says Mario Boselli, head of the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana. "Otherwise it's better to stay home."

Boselli says he reluctantly agreed to squeeze the major houses into the three days starting Friday to coincide with her stay. Of course, the Italians' situation is not helped by the fact that much of the fashion world has diverted to London for Alexander McQueen's funeral in Knightsbridge this morning. ·