Unprecedented Fur Fashion Coverage by Sandy Blye
Fueled by the overwhelming success of Fur Fashion Week in May, fur fashion editorials graced the pages of U.S. newspapers and magazines nationwide in 1995. In addition, fur fashions were broadcast on television coast to coast and as far as Japan.
The U.S. fur industry enjoyed unprecedented fur fashion media attention this year. With the infusion of 23 new designers into the
industry, the message was sent to the fashion media that furs are an integral part of fashion. This theme was further carried out via the industry's national advertising campaign, which highlighted the fur garments of several new designers.
The theme of the campaign, "Fur, It Wraps Around the Imagination," was also the title of FICA's fur fashion book, which was distributed to over 1,000 fashion and lifestyle editors nationwide. The book showcased this new generation of designers that added furs to their ready-to-wear collections and highlighted the American and European designers who continued to create extraordinary fur collections.
The highest accolades are extended to Saga, who spearheaded the extremely effective and successful young designer initiative, which received the support and full cooperation of FICA. In order to further encourage new talents to incorporate fur into their ready-to-wear collections, FICA participated in the Fur Council of Canada's initiative, the North American Fur & Fashion Design Competition. Last year, one of the two American semi-finalists went on to win the grand prize!
A sampling of the fur fashion press coverage the industry received this season follows:
National Television -- Style with Elsa Klensch, CNN; VideoFashion, E! Entertainment; Headline News, CNN;
N.Y. Television -- WCBS-TV, Channel 2; WNBC-TV, Channel 4; Good Day New York, Fox 5; Fox Style News; WABC-TV, Channel 7; New York One;
Foreign Television -- Tokyo 12;
Business Magazine -- Forbes;
National Fashion Magazines -- Vogue; Harper's Bazaar; Elle;
Fashion Publications -- Women's Wear Daily; W; The Tobe Report;
International Press -- Senken Newspaper, Japan; Novoye Russkoyee Slovo, Russia; Yamurei Press, Japan; Vogue, Italy;
Newspapers -- The New York Times; The Cleveland Plain Dealer; Today's Chicago Woman; Chicago Magazine; Detroit Free Press; and The News Times, Danbury, CT.
FICA will continue to pursue aggressively the fashion media. Plans for next year's Fur Fashion Week already are underway. Scheduled to begin May 20, this extraordinary event promises to be even larger than it was in 1995. And that can only result in even more extensive fashion media attention for furs worldwide!
Sandy Blye is director of fashion promotions for the Fur Information Council of America (FICA).
We welcome your comments to the Editor.