Fur was again a key element in the Milan ready-to-wear collections for fall 1999/2000 as designers celebrated the millennium with a festive look back at Bohemian chic as well as an eye toward blending traditional cultures, vibrant colors and unique fabrics. Milan designers, steering away from their signature minimalist look, chose to modernize classics and adapt them through layering and mixing and matching old and new styles. The future is a blend of tradition and high-tech, a way of making use of the best of both worlds. Fabrics are rich and sensuous with lots of knits in all qualities of wool, flannel, felt, velvet, velour, chiffon, tulle and fur, often teamed with the most high- tech fabrics. Tradition meets techno. Italians gave their own personal touch to the hippie chic trend, complete with colors (turquoise, orange, green and brown dominated) and embroidery, appliques and beading, hand-painted fabrics and folkloric styles. Marni designer Consuelo Castiglioni, who was the first to revive the style at the beginning of the '90s, believes it answers women's desire to discover other cultures. For those more inclined toward utilitarian chic, Miu Miu, Prada and Jil Sander's collections each maintained their minimalist style. The slightly casual elegance of Milan style is thriving at Max Mara, Salvatore Ferragamo and Genny, where Josephus Thimister showed his first collection featuring an intriguing androgynous, monochromatic look. On the other hand, Tom Ford's Gucci collection was dedicated to a deluxe Bohemian. Skin-tight bell-bottoms, tiny leather tunics, trumpet-shaped sleeves and liberal use of mink, fox, sable and shearling offered '70s rock star glam a la Lady Marmalade. This romantic free spirit also ruled at Dolce & Gabbana, whose collection offered a nod to several eras. "Nonsense" was how the designer duo described the mood, using denim, florals, tartans, pirate shirts trimmed in chiffon and embroidered organza jackets worn with sequin-belted trousers. The Versace powerhouse kept a polite distance from the hippie look and showed a very feminine collection with looser and more fluid shapes. Botticelli-style beauties wore soft knits and white mink, black tulle and flannel, detailed with turquoises and mother-of-pearl. Fendi staged one of the most talked about shows of the week. In a futuristic setting, models presented an amazing diversity of furs in colors and treatments to make heads turn. Worn on their leather side with apparent seams, furs were lighter than ever, adding strength to Karl Lagerfeld's wish that fur become the next polar wool. Fur was featured in most collections, in a bigger and better variety than ever before. From Prada's bare-back tops tied with parachute clips to Etro's capes in leather side silver fur, to Gianfranco Ferre's overcoats lined with prune or green mink, to Versace's colorful tie-dyed long jacket and Dolce & Gabbana's extensive group of micro-skirts in dyed mink and even Gucci's bronze fox coat with inserts of leopard-printed rabbit, fur fits into every wardrobe. [Tom Steifel-Kristensen is director of public relations for Saga Furs of Scandinavia and coordinates Saga's efforts to place furs in designer ready-to-wear collections world-wide. As such, he always covers the shows.]

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