The fur is flying. Again.
It won't please everyone, but fur is once again in favour

Sun News Services

Tuesday, March 30, 2004

Fur styling came in many forms at Toronto Fashion Week's proudly Canadian collection.
CREDIT: Frank Gunn, Canadian Press

Some of the fur creations from Fur Rhythms, a First Nations design company, shown on the runway at Toronto Fashion Week.
CREDIT: Frank Gunn, Canadian Press

Some of the fur creations from Fur Rhythms, a First Nations design company, shown on the runway at Toronto Fashion Week.

Some of the fur creations from Fur Rhythms, a First Nations design company, shown on the runway at Toronto Fashion Week.

Some of the fur creations from Fur Rhythms, a First Nations design company, shown on the runway at Toronto Fashion Week.

Some of the fur creations from Fur Rhythms, a First Nations design company, shown on the runway at Toronto Fashion Week.

Suddenly, it seemed, it was all over television, in magazine spreads, and on the backs of movie stars, models and rappers at Hollywood premieres, on runways and at awards shows.

Beyonce. P. Diddy. Martha Stewart. Jay-Z. Celine Dion. Snoop Dogg.

Jennifer Lopez. All wrapped in fur, and nothing faux about it.

And then, in a bold move for Seventh Avenue, the venerable Anna Wintour, long-time editor of Vogue, showed up at New York Fashion Week in February in what looked like a leopard coat. It turned out she was wearing a non-endangered species, Lippi cat, found in China, but it was fur nonetheless.

The message was clear -- love it, abhor it, protest against it -- fur has come out of cold storage.

And last week, in a move of its own, the Canadian fashion industry echoed that return in no uncertain terms at the fall/winter 2004 Toronto Fashion Week.

It all began the previous Monday, when Dene designer D'Arcy Moses, whose work has won awards around the world, sent a model down a runway in a jacket and pants knit and sewn from beaver pelts and topped by a backpack sporting a huge set of caribou antlers.

Moses' work capped off a spectacular showcase of styles by six First Nations designers.

The spectacular, sophisticated, unabashedly Canadian collection brought a huge grin to the face of Vittorio Missoni, scion of the giant Italian fashion house who is the special guest of Fashion Week organizers.

Haida, Iroquois and Navajo symbols enhanced gowns and casual wear crafted from such non-native materials as silk and wool, but also blended into clothing crafted from various furs and other natural products.

The women who form Dene Fur Clouds, a Northwest Territories co-operative, used knitted fur in vests, T-shirts, skirts, capes and jackets, often upping the decorative notch with straps or ties made of antler pieces.

Perhaps more startling, though, was the work of the U.S. designers at the New York shows last month, where runways featured a veritable zoo-full of designer looks that included coats with enormous fox collars and vests in mink.

The animal influences ranged from showy sable collars to alligator boots and animal prints, designers were coloring their furs.

The fox collar shows up in bright blue at Esteban Cortazar (on a black cashmere coat), in crimson at Douglas Hannant (on a matching cashmere suit), and in orange or fuchsia at Anna Sui (accessorizing cardigans and jean jackets).

And if the color doesn't grab attention, the scale will, because many designers are cutting these collars to look imposing.

If it's not a fur collar, it's a fur hat from Marc Jacobs, or a fur vest, in pink at Matthew Williamson and in eggplant at Carolina Herrera and Douglas Hannant. This season's tiny jacket, called a "shrug," shows up at Michael Kors in lavender mink and at Donna Karan in loden-colored broadtail lamb.

More generously proportioned is the ubiquitous poncho, which Ralph Rucci casts in honey sable. If that's not enough to spell fur, Ralph Rucci and other designers sent out big fur muffs draped over the models' arms, and stoles that swept down the runway.

Underneath the furry outerwear, designers are banking on their customers wearing dresses dripping with feathers from guinea hen or ostrich.

Perhaps it is no wonder that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals staged a protest on the steps of the Fashion Week tents.

© The Vancouver Sun 2004