Understated furs most popular

Ideological anti-fur sentiment wanes, but still exists

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By Pirjo Mäenpää
     
      Finnish women do not put on conspicuous displays with fur coats. Nevertheless, fur sales are on the increase.
      What kinds of furs do Finnish women buy?
      "Invisible ones", explains Haron Bedretin, the proprietor of the G-boutique on Unioninkatu. "There is no point in bringing ostentatious creations or special colours from the Milan Fair. In Finland you have to look like a little mouse, and certainly the fur must not be visible anywhere. Wild new types of furs go to Russia or somewhere else."
     
Setting trends for fur fashion are the fashion weeks of New York, Paris, London, and Milan. International fashion houses have taken to furs in a big way. Fur ornaments have also appeared in street fashions.
      This winter’s fur fashion fits in well with Finnish tastes, because the in colours are earthy browns and greys, but also white is a powerful trendy colour. Bright colours are used to give emphasis.
      However, there is more breaking of boundaries now. There are rock-style furs now, and all kinds of accessories are linked with them.
     
Regardless of fashion trends, mink has retained its position in Finland from one year to another. As a practical accessory all fur retailers seem to be recommending mink coats that come down to just above the knee, whether as a basic version or a reversible coat.
      "It is easy to move around in a knee-high fur, and it is easy to lift up while sitting in a car, considering that a fur suffers if you sit on it. A reversible fur gives you two coats for the price of one. If a heavy sleet shower occurs, the cloth side is nice protection", notes Ayfer Hakimcan at Bulevardi 5.
      Gone are the days when a merchant could order 50 long black mink coats. Now a fur needs to be an individual garment.
      "If we buy 50 furs, two or three of them will be similar. The greatest proportion of the furs that we sell are made by us. We also make lots of furs to order", says Harri Nappari, head of the Nappari fur shop in Tampere.
     
Although the intense anti-fur sentiment of the 1990s has waned, many people still feel that raising animals for their fur is unethical. At the Fashion and Beauty event at the Helsinki Fair Centre last weekend, 15 animal rights activists took to the stage, shouting slogans in the middle of a fashion show organised by the Fur Finland organisation.
      "Opposition to fur will probably never go away. The locks of doors on fur shoos are constantly being glued shut, and windows are broken or defaced", says Päivi Mononen-Mikkilä, head of communications of the Finnish fur producers group Turkistuottajat.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 17.11.2006

More on this subject:
 Today’s furs are lightweight
 FACTFILE: Fur sales on the increase around the world

PIRJO MÄENPÄÄ / Helsingin Sanomat
pirjo.maenpaa@hs.fi