The merchandise on display has changed considerably. In designer boutiques as in multi-label retail stores, the doors have been opened to welcome lines of less formal, comfortable clothing which is unrestricted by standards of elegance which are now perhaps outdated . What's more, shops and large retailers specialized in outdoor or sports clothing have integrated their practical, sole-purpose articles into "total look" clothing lines, featuring street clothes with a heavy emphasis on techno-fibers and recreational activity usage, thus incorporating the popular sports brands they continue to carry.

The trend is, so it seems, toward the amalgamation of two sectors previously considered at odds with one another: formal dress with it's exclusive accessories one side, and sports and recreational wear on the other. The result is a middle road between the two, which could only be known as "freewear".

The relaxation of classic formal wear comes in answer to new-millennium consumers who demand multi-functional, comfortable, unisex clothing which is, at the same time, trendy and attractive. Designers have made good use of the new synthetic materials in response to those demands.

Milano has once again proven itself the world's fashion capital, having recognized and nurtured a budding global trend. Credit for Milano's continued prominence on the fashion scene is also due the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana and the Promozione Moda Italia, who chose to dub the new movement "Milano Freestyle". In addition, they have provided an exciting, high-profile format to present the new styles in a total context of a free lifestyle.

The Freestyle exhibiton is to be presented in four distinct parts, with the total presentation composed of a central theme of "freeWear" around which orbit three satellite programs called "freeArt", "freeLife" and "freeSpirit" respectively.

The very first international exhibition to be presented under the Total Life banner, FreeWear is scheduled to open its doors June 30 - July 03 at the Milano fairgrounds, inserted into the program of other scheduled international exhibitions.

In what will surely be a dynamic celebration of style, it is dedicated to the new women's and unisex trends in city fashions and sportswear, focusing on the macro-trends born of the union of dressed-for-the-city and sports and recreational garb.

The spirit of the exhibition is expressed by means of the layout. No cramped and unimaginative pre-fab booths here, strung together by a grid of flat aisles -- instead, the walkways are characterized by the irregular lines of an urban center, drawing on the idea of open-air marketplaces and connecting alleys typical of the older sections of any European city. Redesigned from the ground up, the finished effect reflects the ancient Roman fori with their square expanses along a central impluvium.

The "freeArt" satellite is actually much more than pictures at a gallery: it is an entire world of its own dedicated to a photo-video representations supported by a series of special events. "freeArt" is a workshop, a laboratory focused on the urban macro-trends influencing our daily lives -- contemporary trends in architecture, clothing, furnishings and home accessories.

No less significant, "freeSpirit" constitutes a moment in which a retrospective exhibition underscores by a celebration of the unfettered free thinker -- to those who have bent traditional guidelines in style and design, by virtue of their personal charisma and the force of their own convictions.

This first annual event will honor one such great personage: the Italian Elio Fiorucci. Central to understanding the importance of this event is the fact that one market operator is not the only entity represented here. It is the consumer who in this way becomes an active part of the creative process from which new trends are born.