A New Life.

I have been researching different types of fur; the price of fur, quality, colour and the ethical aspects of using furs (and leathers) throughout my collection. As the running theme of my designs is Russian, fur will be playing a key role in my designs as fur was worn for protective and luxurious purposes across classes throughout Imperial Russia. It will not be the main fabrication, but will be used in contrasts with leathers, wools and silks.

I have gone down the path of re-using the fur from vintage fur coats, for two reasons. Firstly, the price of fur skins is huge, and secondly (more importantly) I feel that reusing and reworking an old fur will introduce a sense of sustainability within my designs, and slightly.. and I am aware that it is only slightly, be more ethical.

This being said, I went and had a look at some vintage stores today in the hope that I would find a white or cream fur coat that I could dye to match my colour palette. I was lucky enough to find a jacket that was exactly the colour I would have dyed it to.

I will be pulling apart the pieces from this jacket and re-working them into my new designs.

Wine coloured fur coat.