If a Renaissance man or woman were to time-travel to our present, what would he think of people running around with white cords trailing from a white box to their ears, of people walking while talking into miniscule, handheld things, or of people navigating streets with their own sleek wingless dragons? Life in the future seems to be a fascinating place to be. But for the future man, (which is us) these things fail to astonish and mesmerize. Their future is our past and we look for more things to dazzle and pique our interest.

Futurism seems to be the prevalent mood of the creative mindset for Spring-Summer 2007, but in its broadest sense, does it really signify modernity in fashion?

Hussein Chalayan’s collection is a rare feat as it managed to be profound and to astound at the same time. Critics have applauded Chalayan’s panache of being able to use fashion as a force that evokes emotion from the otherwise jaded "been there-seen that" style connoisseurs. The clothes, if it’s enough to refer to them as just that, were working pieces of thought-provoking art-couture. Thanks to techno wizardry and conceptual design, a dress is not JUST a dress but also a living thing, moving, transforming and blurring fashion eras.

One piece starts from the Victorian period with corsets and lace, and suddenly it’s morphing into a different silhouette, this time fast-forwarding to the roaring ‘20s into a beaded flapper number. Another begins as a simple dress with fluid lines and then magically changing into one with a different décolletage, with a shorter hemline and ballooning into a totally different volume. The finale was a gauzy dress with a contemporary Edwardian hat, but was it? The dress retracted up to disappear inside the hat and the model was left with nothing but naked skin.

Confounding profoundness? It’s chillingly bizarre but at the same time awe-inspiringly wicked, it’s remarkable that the two components of design and functionality did not erase each other out. Both worked seamlessly together and this fact certainly is reflective of our current times. In a world that’s dependent on gadgets, Chalayan’s collection does not recycle Vintage, but, instead, his designs fuse past and future to create what is very now.

Nicolas Ghesquiere’s (for Balenciaga) interpretation of futurism is true to the most literal sense of the word: Androgyny, patent leather, shimmering black, silver, gold chain-mail legs, tailored space suits, boxy shoulders, alien eyes and extraterrestrial footwear that’s not out of place at any UFO club. Reminiscent of ‘80s provocative brand Thierry Mugler or Jean Paul Gaultier, pieces shone and glistened with liquid metal quality, which gave his clothes a paradoxically masculine sexiness.

If it were some other designer then this concept might have been half-baked, lacking or "swervy." (Something that’s gone off-trend in a tragic manner) But it’s not, under golden boy Nicolas, the brand Balenciaga has been catapulted to the forefront of the style race. His collection is a clear departure from any archival reference, (though if one were to create pieces from stiff, shiny fabrics, it cannot help but be compared to the ‘80s aesthetic) but nevertheless, the pieces were beautifully-made futuristic visions, the suits and skinnies precise in their sleekness and cuts. Dresses came in shimmering tunics, like elvesfolk royalty ready to party, skintight bodysuits came in black and blue patent leather, and legs were encased in gleaming gold and bronze armor, fierce and ready to fight any style war. But what’s undoubtedly the best thing about this collection is; it does not follow any trend-led forecasts but instead it leads everyone else into the final frontier; future innovative design and originality.

"When you’re stuck, you go romantic, with freedom of spirit, you can go further. I wanted to touch technology, engineering, silicone, nylon, metal, and plastic. And a new place for the pragmatic." With these words, Alber Elbaz of Lanvin showed a strong collection of indomitable urbanite space amazons, tough but ultracool and uberhot. Using shining silicones, shimmering silvers and slinky satins, all surfaces absolutely shined and glimmered. T-shirt dresses with graphic face prints looked wet and glossy and clung like salamander skin, bustier dresses were reworked in romper mini dresses and hematite- colored trench dresses glistened like black diamonds.

Elbaz’s take was neither wearable technology nor was it robo-inspired. But it was honed perfection and a balance of fantasy and reality. Experimental use of shine, metallic finishes and plastic fabrics created wearable clothes that are tough and dangerously haute sexy. But what really makes his collection stand out is the ease and contemporary shapes infused with fabulous fabrics. It just goes to show that futurism doesn’t really have to alienate.

So what is futurism really? Is it the backlash of too much reworked classics or is it a shape of things to come? Beyond everything else and all the hype for this would-be trend, it’s obvious that the answer is staring us right in the present because with style and design, it seems that the future is now.