Embellishment is the word for how the Italians handled fur in the Ready To Wear Fall Winter 2006 collections two weeks ago in Milan. The trends here were clearly military and mod sixties and anywhere in between.

Starting the week with Alberta Ferretti's chain-belted sixties fur coat with rounded shoulders, it was apparent we were into a whole re-styled sophistication. Mod sixties, ala Jane Jetson was all the rage - think flat, calf-high boots, rounded capes and pod-shape skirts-it was fresh but sophisticated and there were lots of fun dresses embellished with fur.

Pom poms were the attraction of D&G's winter-wonderland. Everything in this collection was white, and embellished with white pom poms. From knit sweater dresses worn with furry white boots worn and white leggings to short white mink tiny jackets and hats with pompoms. You get the picture and you also know where to go next year if you want the ultimate ski bunny outfit.

At Fendi, Karl Lagerfeld also touched on the trend this season for militarism and the mod short volumes of the sixties. He showed gray flannel coats, rounded at the shoulder and cinched with cummerbunds, then he jazzed them up with black tights and astrakhan boots with huge folded-over cuffs. These accessories somehow worked with the GORGEOUS cape-shoulder, sculpted-waist mink jacket. It is truly the most beautiful coat with a capelet over sheared soft tan fur with a doublewide belt. The detail was incredible. Another coat had an Elizabethan collar style - it looked like swirls of fresh spun candy around her neck. The coats in this collection were perfection. But, Lagerfeld outdid himself when he showed a fur dress with the same double belt. But when the soft yellowy stripy tan blazer came out, I was down for the count. This blazer was beautifully cut above the knee and you could wear it like an open sweater. The blazer opened at the neck like a sweater, it was fitted at the back but opened up, looked loose and comfy.

There were, as usual at Fendi, some beautiful fur bags but the coats really stole the show. Indulge me to describe a few more: A fierce, shaggy fox with huge shoulders then there was a nipped-waist honey-and-gray mink with exaggerated braided sleeves and a curvy foulard collar. Everyone single coat was just spectacular.

Mathew Williamson for Pucci didn't do Pucci printed furs thankfully, but instead showed very discreet gray fur trimmed suits, a belted jacket (there's that wide belt again!) with fur sleeves and a vintage looking neckline. He embellished with fur instead of patterns, the fox-trimmed alpaca and brocade coats really stood out but not as much as the coats at Prada.

Muccia Prada was definitely into animal prints this year. One monochrome leopard-print coat had bristling fur sleeves. Another parka looked like she had stuck an animal to its back. It was very hirsute and Planet-of the Ape like. Forget the coats and buy one of the animal print raincoats with fur collar. Or better yet, go for the fur bag. The elements were good-parkas, nylon raincoats, bombers, down-beat knits, lining-fabric skirts, and buttoned-up shirts-but the coats with fur clamped to the pockets were not anything I'd recommend to anyone next winter.

If this is the future, give me the mod sixties and military styles any day!

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