AR-News: (UK) Fur to Sweep Back into Fashion

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

By Graham Hiscott, Consumer Affairs Correspondent, PA News 


Fur has finally come in from the cold and is once again in hot demand, 
according to the industry.

An object of desire during the money-driven eighties and early nineties, fur 
fell out of favour through a combination of the recession and increasingly 
potent animal welfare campaigners.

The activities of the anti-fur lobby reached a level where anyone with a fur 
coat was afraid to wear it out for fear of public condemnation.

The inevitable result was the closure of fur sections in departments stores 
and a large number of specialist furriers.

However, it appears in the past few years that the pendulum may have swung 
back the other way and that the industry is enjoying something of a renaissance.

The latest evidence comes in new figures from the British Fur Trade 
Association (BFTA) which indicate sales increased by 35% in Britain last year.

Market researchers Mintel said in a report from 1999 there were around 180 
designers using fur, compared to around 40 in 1985 when figures were first 
recorded.

At the forefront of the claimed return to fur have been some the world’s 
best-known fashion houses, such as Dolce & Gabbanna, Gucci, Prada, and Jean-Paul 
Gaultier.

Andrea Martin, from the BFTA, said: “What has happened over the past few 
years is that designers are looking at fur with a different eye.

“There are so many techniques that can used because it such a versatile 
fabric. For example, you can knit with fur, it can be plucked, or it can sheared so 
it is much more low-weight.

“We are coming away from the image of a long mink coat that you might have 
imagined your grandmother would wear and it is much more up-to-date fashion.

“It is starting on the catwalk and then transferring to the high street where 
consumers are wanting it too.”





full story:

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2511388 

"The world is a dangerous place,
not because of those who do evil,
but because of those who look on and do nothing.",
Albert Einstein
      /\   /\         
>' .' <   
                              
There is no justice, just us!  










    
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