Slim and transparent is Strenesse's spring

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February 4, 1999
Web posted at: 5:37 p.m. EST (2237 GMT)

From Style Correspondent Elsa Klensch

MILAN, Italy (CNN) -- A fashion slight of hand -- a jacket as easy as a shirt, or a coat that's really a dress -- is the magic in the Strenesse spring/summer collection from Gabrielle Strehle.

The designer also plays with treatments that transform the look of her fabrics.

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"The mix between the technologic qualities and the transparent is for me, a very soft way and gives it a very modern touch," Strehle says.

She says a swimsuit can become part of a wardrope, mixing well with skirts or trousers to create a very feminine look.

Although she uses lots of color, Strehle says white is integral to the collection.

"What's important for me is the different kinds of white, to mix them together and go through to very dark," she says. "Instead of black, we used a very dark brown, like a cigar. Then comes flesh colors together with a whole range of rose to pink and orange too."

Summer knits resemble underwear -- thin and without seams.

"It's like the second skin of the body," Strehle says. "The transparent, cashmere knitwear, it looks like organza."