Kopenhagen Fur attended panel debate with Vogue Italy

During the Italian Fashion Week in Milan the International Fur Federation (IFF) and Vogue Italy invited the fur trade to the panel debate "A Vision on Fur". 

Fashion Week was well underway in Milan when IFF and Italian Vogue held a major panel debate on 24. September intended to build a bridge between the fur trade and the fashion industry.

Apart from Kopenhagen Fur, approx. 80-100 people from the trade were present - a majority of these were fur retailers.

Mark Oaten, the CEO of IFF, described the arrangement as the first step for IFF towards a greater level of involvement with the fashion industry. The panel discussed topics such as; the direction fur has taken during the last five years and how fur fashion will develop.

Some of the speakers - apart from Mark Oaten - were Sara Maino, Head of Talent Vogue in Italy, Francesco Scognamiglio, Italian designer and Johannes Manakas, Chairman of IFF.

New consumers and markets

Initially, Mark Oaten established that much has happened in the world of fur within the last 5 to 7 years. Fur now has a lightness to it and is also increasingly being combined with other textiles and colours.

Fur is also found in more and more "regular" fashion boutiques instead of expensive specialized shops, which means that more consumers can be reached. Also, more and more are buying fur garments online.

Iran and India were mentioned as new, potentially important fur markets -  Iran, for instance, has a long tradition for working with leather.

Furthermore, subjects such as traceability, sustainability and animal welfare were also debated. It was established, that the fur trade needs to improve its promotion and emphasize on the areas where the trade already has a strong presence. Particularly, when it comes to areas that designers and consumers are increasingly demanding.