A model shows a creation from Italian designer duo Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana at 2016 Alta Moda high fashion show in Naples.

The display of a corseted swimsuit with a white satin sash with the words Miss Eleganza in gold beads reminded people that Loren started her career here winning a local beauty pageant at 14.

The designers also used many of Loren's movies for inspiration.

The first look, a white off-shoulder shirt paired with a black pencil-skirt, decorously sizzling, was from her 1968 movie Questi Fantasmi (1968); a dress embroidered with sunflowers was inspired by her movie Sunflower (1970) and a white trapeze coat traced its origins to another classic, Marriage, Italian Style (1964).

"Sophia Loren is unique, a famous brand in Italy. In our eyes, she has always been a splendid vision, the symbol of the ideal woman, the quintessential icon of Italian style, an icon of femininity and seduction," says Dolce.

"Sophia is a magnificent actress who made all the characters she played unforgettable. But she is also a real woman, passionate, Mediterranean and bordering on the cheeky. They (the Mediterranean women) love life and are aware of their beauty," he says.