Word: minks
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...your granny wore. Designers have decided that since luxury is this season's watchword, fur is a staple for everything from evening wear to accessories. "I look at fur today as I look at a fabric," says Valentino. "There is no difference. I use tiny borders of mink as a ruffle in my wool suitings." From trim, fur has migrated to sportswear. Versace has a mink-lined biker boot, Prada has a mink vest, Fendi and others have fur skirts, Michael Kors has silver fox leg warmers and, for the ultimate in dressing down and up at the same time...
...remains to be seen whether this flurry of furriness will revive what has been a dwindling industry. In 1988 there were more than 1,000 mink farms in the U.S. Last year there were about half that number. While some of this is consolidation, Evans Inc., the retailer considered a bellwether of the fur industry, has lost money in seven of the past 10 years. And its share price, which hit $13 in 1987, was still less than a dollar last month...
...hills and yellow fields of Sandbjerg, north of Copenhagen. It has also targeted fashion schools, taking trunkloads of furs to final-year students at schools like London's influential Central St. Martin's College of Art and Design. The aim of both programs was to get designers to think mink...
...Saga will even help teach the designers' fur suppliers the techniques they have learned. Who could resist? Not designer Eric Gaskins, who visited Saga in 1994. "They really show someone who doesn't know fur that well what all the possibilities are," says Gaskins. His collection now includes a mink top patterned after an oversize fisherman's sweater. Saga's website trumpets the fact that a designer who has worked for the Gap and Banana Republic has visited. Fur-trimmed khakis, anyone...
...nowhere near 1987's high of $1.8 billion. Leslie Freund, marketing director for Maximilian, which sells furs at Bloomingdale's stores, says Maximilian has had double-digit increases over the past two years, but won't divulge exact figures. While the bulk of sales continue to be of classic mink coats, Freund says a growing number of young buyers are drawn to fur by the new styles. "Their first fur may be one of these whimsical pieces, but eventually they'll get more serious," says Freund. "These are our future customers." At least until the fashion changes...