It doesn't get fiercer than the fashion on the Hakaan runway this morning. Designer Hakaan Yildirim and creative director Mert Alas' woman is a man-eater. She lures her prey with razor-sharp jackets and miniskirts with the sides scooped away, bustier dresses laced tight above slightly padded hips, and sheer organza blouses tucked into slim pencil skirts. The program notes said futuristic Africa and there was a tribal beat on the soundtrack, but Yildirim and Alas weren't thinking literal. The arrowhead motif on a black halter dress cut away at the sides was about as obvious as the referencing got, unless you count cocktail dresses densely embroidered with gold or black beads.

The Hakaan clothes are not for the timid or the gal who's carrying around a few extra pounds. A lot of the looks were made from a stiff gridlike lace, providing thousands of tiny little windows through which the models' bare flesh was visible. The nudity issue is a problem to be resolved in the sales room. Or not. One surprising thing we've noticed at the shows is female fashion professionals' increasing comfort level with exposing their underwear.