The results are fun, fashionable fur garments and accessories that are thoroughly modern but have a vintage edge and a lot of attitude: fur handbags in sheared rabbit or carved mink with semiprecious stone handles; sheared red fox neck-warming capelets with matching hand muffs; coyote jackets sheared and dyed a trendy shade of denim blue; chunky fur-trimmed sweaters with a hand-made look, and even the superhot bobcat bomber jacket.

Plus, she offers the designer look without the designer price tag. Miljkovitch's customers are primarily between the ages of 20 and 30, exactly the niche she originally wanted. For the younger set, she feels it's important to keep prices reasonable. People don't usually buy fashionable clothing to wear forever. When you're spending $600 on a rabbit jacket, it's more acceptable to wear it only for a couple of years than if you spent $6,000 on a fur coat.

As a Canadian, Veronique respects the historic roots of the fur trade and has an organic appreciation for fur, but her designs definitely go against the traditional glamour image of fur fashions. "I don't really care about all the glamour bull---," she says. "Especially now, given what's going on in the world." After a moment's hesitation, she adds, "Not that I ever did before either," and laughs. "Fashion has been going through a big cocooning trend for a while. It's all about natural materials and comfort. That's what I love about furs. They just make you feel so great and cozy when you put them on."

With her antipathy for glamour duds, why did this vegetarian pick fur design when she graduated from Lasalle College in 1992, at the height of the animal activist movement?

"I had a natural inclination toward fur -- I think all women do. I loved the texture and the feel of it. I saw that no young people were interested in designing fur, and there also weren't a lot of furs designed for young people. I thought I would be able to offer a fresh approach."

As for animal rights sentiment, she says, "I never paid attention to those people. It makes no sense to me. If you go along with all of that, you might as well stop living." She also credits a phase in her life when she romanticized Native American culture, especially their relationship with nature. She has even visited Nunavut territory in Northern Canada and seen first-hand the way they use animals with respect for the environment.

Following the cocooning trend, it was only natural for Miljkovitch to venture into making home furnishings out of fur. She recently began working with high-end furniture retailer Montauk, which has stores in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary. She makes items like mongolian lamb pillows, fox ottomans and even fur hot water bottle covers.

The rest of her fur fashions can be found at specialty stores throughout North America, at Simon's department stores in Canada, at her own boutique in Montreal and at www.eFurs.com.