MILAN, Mar 5, 2003 / --- "It's neo-Renaissance armor mixed with sportswear," said Karl Lagerfeld backstage at the Fendi women's show Monday in Milan.

Is there no end to the depths of this man's imagination? Most designers looking back to the past get mucked up in retro copies. Not Karl Lagerfeld.

This latest collection, rooted in Renaissance principles, is a wild, futuristic ride in an intergalactic space ship.

The models sauntered thoughtfully along a water-lined runway, their dewy faces glistening in silver and rose shimmer.

They were ethereal and romantic, but there was nothing remotely sweet about these girls.

In fact, they were downright power-protected in shrouds of silver-plated leather and piles of leather-bound fur.

Shrunken jackets and skirts, sometimes stenciled and quilted, shone in iridescent leathers and were often covered in additional layers of leather cut-outs, or cinched up with mini corset belts.

The colors, inspired by Titian, were magnificent.

Silvery pinks, varying shades of lilac and bronzed periwinkle were soft and beautiful, while deep rubies and aubergines added an edge to the mix.

The colors shone best on skintight pants or itty-bitty satin skirts, as well as on the fur jackets that are signature Fendi territory.

Here, Lagerfeld zoomed to the moon.

If price were no option, everyone would want a ballooned chubby with rows of jewel-colored Mongolian fur, or a leather cape with shaved mink sunburst rays.

Lagerfeld still kept things wildly futuristic and regal-looking.

An olive mink coat, vacuum-packed into iridescent plastic with leather banding and sprouts of goat ribbons, or Yeti boots covered in flowered mink, aren't your average winter coverage, but they sure looked cool.

Any respectable Renaissance court dweller would have her gown followed by yards of train.

But Lagerfeld's not convinced you actually need the gown.

His long trains of colored paillettes slung low on the waist and followed behind satin hot pants and fitted ski parkas.

Long satin dresses, when they did appear, followed the mix of flat and shiny with slashed fronts and graphic cut-outs on the sides.

Normally Fendi doesn't give two figs what you're wearing before 8pm, if it's not bound in leather or cascading in feathered fur.

This season, though, Lagerfeld also delivered some more casual long-sleeved dresses with graphic color blocking that were several notches below the usual glitz and added quieter moments to an overall kick-in-the-pants collection.

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