Fall Season, 2042

By EDITED BY MARTHA DUFFY

Since vanity and taste are with us always, TIME asked top designers for their daydreams of a half-century hence. Christian Lacroix and visionary film director Tim Burton favor technology to overcome environment. Donna Karan merges clothing with communications gear. Geoffrey Beene believes that men will dump the suit -- as he already has. Giorgio Armani, noting that the basic 1940s outline is still chic, plumps for his easy elegant styles, be they last year's or next millennium's.