Fur brand takes new approach to expand reach
Who wears fur? Is it a gang boss who sits on a huge brown leather chair with a cigar between his fingers and thick smoke obscuring his face? Or is it those who live in the North Pole or Northeast China, who have avoided getting frozen to death like Leonardo DiCaprio in the film The Revenant?
Satchi, a clothing brand from Italy, has just launched a series of fashion fur garments jointly with Kopenhagen Fur, the world’s largest fur auction house owned by Danish fur breeders.
And the answer to the questions at the start of this article is: Fur is for everyone.
The Satchi-KF collaboration aims to change the commonly-held perception of fur.
So, rather than continuing the old style that normally means having 13-centimeter long mink hair all over the exterior surface to make a fluffy coat, short mink hair is used instead to form the warm lining and make the garment lightweight.
Chen Zhenlin, the president of Satchi in China, says the name of the company comes from a Chinese word that means “expose no wealth”, and refers to the design concept of “expose no fur”.
He says this low-key handling of skins is a way to highlight fur’s basic function which is to keep out the cold, and change the perception that fur garments are only for instant millionaires to show off their money.
At the same time, the menswear brand has developed a series of fur garments for women, as it wishes to expand its market share.
The theme of the company’s latest collection is “The Art of Travel”, and it showcases the brand’s push to create garments for different needs, especially if the consumer travels a lot to different places and has to deal with different environments and weather conditions, or attend different occasions.
Adding to this, the China head of KF, Cui Yiyun, says the theme also refers to the production cycle.
“The whole process, from animal breeding to fur product in a retail shop takes two to three years.
“It is not a short production cycle, especially when we’re living such a fast-paced society,” says Cui, “Consumer often choose a lifestyle by opting for a certain product. So, just as people like to get away from their busy schedules by taking a break, purchasing a fur garment doesn’t just tell people how successful or rich you are, but how much attention you pay to the quality of your life.”
Work on the latest collection started almost six months ago, but the idea to broaden the product line has been in Chen’s mind for over two years.
It’s been 17 years since Satchi entered the Chinese market. But Chen says that though the brand has been producing formal, casual and sports clothing with the same commitment since then, it is now time to look at other opportunities.
So, Chen selected KF as supplier based on his recognition of its strict quality control.
According to Cui, the skins go through time-consuming manual handling. And she says that it is necessary to mix different skins to attain a good color balance in the finished fur product.
The manual checks also focus on elements such as the uneven length of animal hair and uneven surfaces.
Meanwhile, Chen is working with Felefasa, another fur clothing brand from Italy, on sourcing natural fashion fabrics from Europe, such as cashmere from Italy, and also to learn new production techniques.
The hand arched stitching is one of them. For this, craftsmen used small strips of mink as thread for sewing into the skins.
Speaking about the Felefasa link, Chen says: “This integration is helping us to blend techniques and get design inspiration. And it offers consumers not just the chance to wear natural fur, but also be exposed to unique products made using new processing techniques.”