Steve Gold, Saga Furs of Scandinavia's North American representative, attended the series of shows and brought their fur message straight to North American retailers during a seminar at the North American Fur & Fashion Exposition in Montreal May 1.

An acknowledged fashion critic and a frequent guest on both network and syndicated television and radio shows, Gold has been an integral part of Saga's ongoing American Designer Initiative, a program that has encouraged more than 40 distinguished fashion designers to use fur in their ready-to-wear collections.

Thanks in part to Saga's efforts, more and more designers started working with trim and today maintain a strong commitment to fur. "Names like Isaac Mizrahi, Joseph Abboud, Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, Thiery Mugler, Armani, to name just a few, have all been using fur in their ready-to-wear collections recently," said Gold. "And when you add the newcomers to designers like Yves Saint Laurent, Oscar de la Renta, Gianfranco Ferre and Karl Lagerfeld, who have never stopped using fur, we've got a trend. Fur is in fashion, and it's only going to get better over the next few years."

Gold used several photographs from the runways to illustrate the trends, and some of those are included here. His points:
• Shape is important. Silhouettes are long and lean. Collars are large in juxtaposition to slim shapes. As a result, fox has come into its own. The Italians showed a lot of fox and weren't afraid of shapes like fox chubbies, which appeared at Gucci and Lanvin. Evening was shown in longer, leaner silhouettes using fur in subtle and more dramatic ways.
• Colors are darker. Fendi, always a barometer, is showing dark browns in particular; golden colors such as light, bleached furs, are over for them. "In fact, next year they tell me that the trend will be toward ranch [black] mink," added Gold.

Contrasts are an important trend. This fall, not only is the contrast of fur on fabric prevalent, but also the richness of fabric contrasted to fur and other types of fabric. Brocades, rich velvets and embroideries are hot, especially as expressed by Romeo Gigli.

Sportswear is a major statement, as are knits, like the Sonia Rykiel sweater with mink collar. -Printed furs are also important. Designers have printed every kind of fur from calf to mink to rabbit. Glamour is definitely with us. It might not be the glamour of the '80s, but it's here none the less.

Gold even had some suggestions to retailers about how they could use the fashion message in their marketing: "Use it in your advertising. Use photographs that depict fashion shapes. Whether in a local ad or a direct mail piece, remind your customer that fur is in fashion. Make your ads fashionable looking. Follow upscale advertisers in your merchandise ad. Look at what the better end is doing. Never forget that fur is always perceived as a prestige product; even if a woman can only afford a rabbit trim, she wants fur because it brings her some of that prestige.

"Invest in some fashion goods along with your commercial stock," Gold continued. "These pieces might be novelties to you, but they can do more than just dress up your window. Send out press releases to your local papers about current fashion trends. Fashion is news, and it will get you in print. Fashion can also be the focal point of local events. People are interested in it, and it really does come in all price points."