Fur Times Autumn 2014

AUTUMN 2014

QUARTERLY UPDATE

IN THIS ISSUE: The FUR NOW campaign

The FUR NOW Campaign

Studio NAFA Outreach Program Fur Futures Asia Roadshow Interview with Michael Mengar, Chairman of IFF Americas Region

Kopenhagen Fur collaboration with House of Amber International Campaign Committee

In June, IFF shot the latest fashion advertising campaign - FUR NOW. The concept is simple – fur is everywhere, fur is now – and the campaign will show fur in lots of different everyday scenarios, whilst still keeping in mind where fur comes from. The campaign's look is young, fresh and eye-catching and will produce great videos and still images for print publication.

For the shoot, IFF collaborated with stylist Georgia Pendlebury, who sourced some major brands for the shoot including Jean Paul Gaultier, Giambattista Valli, Kenzo, Dries Van Noten, Elie Saab, Matthew Williamson and Manish Arora.

IFF also collaborated with two major bloggers: Bryanboy and Gala Gonzalez. They both helped greatly with the creativity of the campaign, inputting their ideas and having much fun trying on the furs. Both posted a vast amount onto social media and got people talking around the #FURNOW. The videos are now in the editing stage and will be launched alongside the print advertising in October.

CEO Comment A recent audit of members shows that many of you value the work IFF is doing, but would like more support, information and a greater chance to discuss subjects at Council meetings. Message understood, and I hope that the regions will also allow members to feel more engaged on the local level.

With this in mind, we’ll also be launching a ‘Communications Toolbox’, available for all members to access, with useful promotional and media material.

I’m pleased that we’re also attracting new members, with Dubai and Malaysia now

signed up and interest from South Africa and Taiwan in joining the family. The more members we have, the stronger we are in defending the principle of free trade in fur.

Update from Fur Europe Workshops in member countries will be high on Fur Europe’s agenda this fall. Since CEO Martina Bianchini took office in April, workshops with participants from national trade and –producer associations, Fur Europe and IFF have taken place in Poland, Romania and Spain, and this fall will see this extended to countries like Italy, France, Latvia, Germany and Greece. The scope of the workshops is to encourage a strengthened cooperation between traders and producers, and secure a more homogenous fur industry across European borders. The many countries and diverse cultures in Europe have resulted in a rather fragmented fur industry, which is a challenge for the European region.

“There are great advantages to be achieved with a more united Fur value chain and the national workshops inform this idea. Together, we are building a roadmap for Fur Europe to create shared value and strengthen our voice towards policy makers, alliance partners and society at large. I have no doubt that a stronger European organisation will benefit the industry as a whole,” says Martina Bianchini.

Update from Americas region As the Americas region enters its third year of existence, they have taken the time to reflect on their achievements to date with a 2013-14 Annual Report. Highlights from the report include REMIX 2014 Bronze Winner Mijia Zhang from the USA, the launch of informative website TruthaboutFur.com, the ‘Fur Day on the Hill’ lobby event and continued support of the education of young persons in the fields of fur and fashion.

The second full year of operations in the IFF Americas focused on improving the systems we put in place to increase Member collaboration and effectiveness of IFF program funding and reduce overlaps of Member activities. Through several Members meetings and conference calls the level of Member cooperation and under- standing has increased significantly in the past two years.

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IFF News Code of Conduct A big thank you to every single IFF member who has now signed the Code of Conduct. It is important that the fur sector shows to the outside world its commitment on issues such as welfare, employment and the environment.

The Code is the first step in this process and we will be looking to strengthen it in the years ahead.

International Campaign Committee The ICC met in June and was attended by representatives from across the globe. Issues discussed included developing a pack for retailers based on the excellent work from the Beautifully Canadian campaign. The group also debated how best to respond to online petitions concerning fur and better use of social media, in particular in Asia and Eurasia.

Congratulations to Rob Cahill Congratulations to IFF’s Americas Region CEO Rob Cahill on his new appointment as the Senior Vice President of International Marketing at NAFA. It’s great that Rob is staying in the fur family after so many years of providing support in the Americas via his FIC position and, more recently, as CEO of the IFF Americas region.

Rob should be congratulated on helping set up the region and we wish him well at NAFA.

Studio NAFA Outreach Program goes to China On July 12 and 15, Studio NAFA hosted its first wild fur workshops in Hong Kong and Shanghai, in association with the Hong Kong Fashion Designers Association, the Canadian Consulate General in Shanghai and the Shanghai Fashion Design Association.

Thirty fashion and fur designers attended each workshop, which included presentations of trends, popular wild fur species and fur techniques. Speakers included Lumin Yao, Director of Studio NAFA and Farley Chatto, Canadian prét-a-porter designer in Hong

Kong, and Consul Mr. Majid Dellah and Dragon Hu, China Marketing Director of NAFA in Shanghai.

The workshops presented seven popular wild fur species and a variety of techniques that have been developed by Studio NAFA. The latest designs of garments and accessories presented by Mr. Chatto further proved that NAFA Northern wild furs added more value and creative options when fashion designers include them in their collections.

INTERVIEW

Interview with Michael Mengar, Chairman of IFF Americas Region

proactive and to see the different parts of the region working together is a very encouraging thing.

Last January, we had a meeting in Miami of all organisations who are members of IFF Americas. Each organisation presented their programs, reported on the previous year and proposed their future plans. It was really pleasing to see everyone together, working on joint projects, communicating with each other and really uniting the fur industry in the Americas. It just showed proof that regionalisation was the right way to go for the future of IFF, and we’re arranging another of these meetings for January 2015.

How did you first come into the fur trade?

I’ve been in the fur trade all my adult life, so the answer to that question stretches back 35 years. But in a nutshell, I started with Hudson’s Bay London in 1978 and am now the CEO of NAFA, which is a lineage of Hudson’s Bay company. So I have been with the same company, throughout it’s evolution and changes over the years, since 1978.

Alongside being the CEO of NAFA, I have always been happy to take on extra-curricular activities and work on various Boards, as I believe I should, as a dedicated member of the industry. I was on the Board of Hong Kong Fur Federation in 1986/7, and have been on the Board of FICA on/off for years. Now of course, I am Chariman of the IFF Americas Region and happy to take on extra responsibility, as I feel it is my duty.

How have you enjoyed your time so far as Chairman of the Americas region? What have been your highlights?

I’m so proud of what we’ve accomplished, as we were at the forefront of IFF’s regionalisation. The Americas took the lead and were the first region to be established.

This proved very challenging as there was no previous framework to go on and there were a lot of issues to be resolved, but we had a very dedicated Board of people who I have to give credit to. Especially to previous IFF Americas CEO Rob Cahill, who did a great job and sorted through many issues that were very difficult.

Due to the way we have organised our region, we are now in a much better position than we were before regionalisation. We are more

What does the Americas region hope to achieve in the next 12 months?

One thing at the forefront right now is replacing Rob Cahill, who has done a fantastic job but has now stepped down as CEO of the Americas Region to take a role as Vice President of International Marketing at NAFA. We have also just finished putting together our terms of reference and constitution, as well as finalising the contract arrangement with IFF and the levy agreement of the auction houses.

What is exciting you about the fur industry right now?

I saw some significant and real improvement in the industry this last year, including in the retail results of fur garments in the Americas.

The main thing I see is an improvement in the attitude towards fur in the Americas, and I see that continuing to improve, as well as increases in retail.

Young people have a different way of thinking than my generation ever did, they have a huge wealth of information at their fingertips and are not so easily swayed by negative portrayals of the fur industry. Fashion is definitely favourable to us right now, not just in whole garments but interiors, trims and accessories, which also certainly has an influence on public opinion. We are much better equipped now to protect and help influence ideas of the trade.

Tell us something about yourself that nobody else would know.

I’ve just re-read one of my favourite books – The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho. It is a tremendous book and I encourage everyone, especially young people, to read it. It gives a wonderful outlook on life.

Update from Eurasia region On July 2, IFF Eurasia hosted the second International Forum: "Prospects for the development and the fur trade between the IFF regions of Eurasia and Asia” in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Issues were raised about the prospects of the fur trade and other ways of cooperation between IFF Asia and Eurasia, but also about preventing Customs Union countries and Ukraine from low quality fur goods smuggling and counterfeit. Governments of both regions have introduced a number of actions to prevent the market from low-quality and smuggled fur goods.

On July 3, IFF Eurasia held their Board meeting. The Board discussed an implementation of a work plan for 2014 and other organizational issues. Sergey Stolbov was appointed as a Chairman of the region.

Finally, an international conference regarding issues of hunting furbearing animals was held on July 24, in Russia, Krasnoyarsk. Issues were raised about improving the legislation on the regulation of the fur trade, the Agreement on International Humane Trapping Standards (AIHTS) between the European Union, Canada and the Russian Federation, the effectiveness of the current system of sable usage in Russia and control over the circulation of products from it.

Update from Asia region On June 9-16, with strong support from our member associations in Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, IFF Office in Beijing and members in Mainland China, the International Fur Federation Asia Region’s Fur Futures Roadshow was completed with huge success.

Asia Remix’s top 10 finalists have been selected; the final event will be held on September 24, 2014 in Beijing China. Ms. Kelly Xu, Asia Region Director is helping Korea Fur Federation to organize its first national Fur Design Competition. Ms. Sharlene Zhu is now the Communication Director & Membership Coordinator for IFF Office in Beijing.

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Oh! by Kopenhagen Fur collaborate with House of Amber jewellery Oh! by Kopenhagen Fur will explore new markets when it launches an exclusive jewellery and accessories collection with Danish-based company House of Amber. House of Amber’s pieces are manufactured in an exclusive combination of silver, gold and diamonds, and from now on, also mink.

The mini-collection will include pendants, earrings and also small fur bags, decorated with hand-cut amber beads, and will be displayed in the House of Amber’s Stockholm and Copenhagen stores.

Fur Futures Asia Roadshow

MEMBERS NEWS Saga Furs invites Spanish students to broaden their horizons Nine creative minds from the ESNE University in Spain applied their talents to a multi-discipline cross project workshop at Saga Furs Design Center. Saga Furs teamed up with ESNE six years ago when they were looking for companies to sponsor a variety of projects that would give students a realworld experience. It brings students together from all different disciplines and asks them to apply themselves in scenarios outside of their comfort zones.

Whilst at Saga Furs Design Center, the nine students learned about the Saga Furs auction and marketing activities, the global fur business, pelt dress, craft techniques, company CSR and the brand.

Tariff and trade issues in China IFF CEO Mark Oaten held a third constructive meeting with customs officials to discuss future tariff levels and ways to simplify price calculations of goods entering China. The meeting was constructive and with the support of our Asia President Madam Deng, we were also able to raise concerns over changes to a number of tariffs on fur items that will have particular impact on Hong Kong businesses trading with China, known as CMT.

Fur Exploration Tour for Chinese fashion designers

On June 9-16, the IFF Asia Region’s Roadshow took place with huge success.

More than 240 people participated in the workshops across the Asia Region, with strong support from our member associations in Hong Kong, Korea, Japan and Mainland China, and the IFF Office in Beijing.

The Roadshow consisted of four delegates.

Izzet Ers, Creative Director of Hockley, who introduced his collection, showed how to select different combinations of furs and colours and discussed a variety of other techniques. Christian Helmer, a designer from Denmark, spoke about how fur is used around the world, how it is manufactured and how it

is made into products. Gorana Stojanovic, Director of Global Communications at IFF introduced the Fur Futures program, which supports the next generation of people working with fur. She promoted the special attributes of the program such as the ability for participants to apply for a one-year 1000€ scholarship. Kelly Xu, Director of IFF’s Asia Region was the fourth delegate.

The workshops attracted over 200 new members to Fur Futures and generated approximately 40 online news articles, a number of posts on blogs and social media forums, and print media articles.

For more information or to send us news: furtimes@iftf.com. www.

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In July 2014, IFF’s China Office, the Young Entrepreneurs Fur Committee and China Fashion Association co-organised the “Fur Exploration Tour”, aiming to answer common questions designers may have about fur.

They invited 19 young Chinese designers to learn about the product, techniques and visit the China Office of Kopenhagen Fur, Kopenhagen Furward Consulting (Beijing) Co. Ltd and two well-known fur enterprises of China; Naxinjiahe International Garments Co. Ltd and Hong Kong Maxima Fashion Company Limited.

Currently, many young designers are interested in fur but have no idea how to intergrate fur into the design. IFF hopes to give young designers a better understanding about the industry’s current situation, and facilitate integration between the fur and fashion industry in the future.