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CNN's Elsa Klensch gives us a preview of the collection
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March 11, 1999
Web posted at: 1:37 p.m. EST (1837 GMT)

From Style Correspondent Elsa Klensch

MILAN, Italy (CNN) -- Designer Alberta Ferretti says goodbye to minimalism with a strong, colorful and exotic fall/winter '99 collection.

She plays with proportions, placing the waist high or low and lengths firmly under the knee. Geometrics take on a powerful role in patchworks, transparent fabrics, appliques and beading.

Ferretti does contrasting borders on dresses, tops, skirts and her Mongolian lamb coats. But it's her attention to detail that gives the collection it's new, almost ethnic, direction.

"Practically the entire collection was made by hand," she said. "You can barely see the seaming detail. Everything is made of almost little squares which immediately take the form of the body."

The designer says while she loves dresses, most of her research has gone into coats.

"I'm looking for coats that are comfortable, and coats that are long and flowing and have very interesting volume," she said.

Jackets are small, some with fur details or animal prints.

"I've gone more for fantasy jackets as opposed to masculine cuts," she said. "I'm looking for something a little more interesting in the print or in the fabric."