I'm bored with fur: Prada

ANIMAL liberationists scored a victory today when Milan's style matron, Miuccia Prada, proclaimed she was bored with fur.

ANIMAL liberationists scored a victory today when Milan's style matron, Miuccia Prada, proclaimed she was bored with fur.

An animal rights protester infiltrated Prada's fashion show, spooking the procession of spindly schoolgirl models as he leapt onto the catwalk brandishing a poster headlined "Fur Scum''.

But Prada's latest autumn-winter collection featured only fake fur, made of mohair fused with wool - unlike last winter's line of fox-fur coats, bags, hats and helmets.

"I'm sick of fur because it is everywhere,'' Prada - whose style proclamations spark global fashion trends - explained after her show. "I'm bored with it.''

Laughing and chatting with well-wishers backstage, Prada seemed unflustered by the protest staged by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) - which also campaigns against wool shorn from Australian sheep that have been mulesed to prevent fly-strike.

Prada chose precious Alpaca fleece and high-tech wool fusions to create garments resembling fur, feathers, astrakhan (the pelts of baby goats) and shag-pile carpet.

Supple leather was stitched into classic overcoats, business suits, sleeveless coat-dresses and pleated knee-length skirts - all worn with knee-length footless socks and shiny high-heeled shoes.

Prada experimented with textures - from the citrus peel-effect of an orange twin-set to the shag-pile style knits, skirts and coats.

Grey felt overcoats featured a colour-bleed effect of bronze or emerald green, resembling crinkled foil. Capes were crafted from glossy black plastic feathers.

Stark shift dresses and overcoats were pulled in with a half-belt and bow below the derriere.

"The idea is to do fake classic,'' Prada said.

"No shapes, no volume, no couture, just something with very simple materials and colours.''

Prada also defended her use of skinny models, in response to the Milan Fashion Chamber's new code of conduct instructing designers to stop using under-age and underweight models.

"Doctors say that a healthy slimness is much healthier than being overweight,'' she told Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper.

Power dressing was a strong theme at the Milan shows today, as Jil Sander designer Raf Simons furnished a wardrobe for working women.

The show of demure dresses and double-breasted trouser suits are sure to have corporate climbers reaching for their credit cards.

Knee-length dresses with short sleeves and Peter Pan collars were embellished with singular pleats, used in the place of darts to add interest to the simple shapes and brooding hues.

Clever pleating formed a sunray pattern at the back of a long black gown, while a silver evening gown was fashioned from cascades of accordion pleats.

Boxy double-breasted jackets topped skinny trousers in grey power-suits.

Royal purple and shimmering bronze and silver brightened the fail-safe palette of black, grey and navy.