It's this winter's most unpredictable series of fur ads: top model Frankie Rayder tanned and sexy, frolicking in little furs and little else on the beach touting J. Mendel for Legend. But just what is J. Mendel for Legend? One thing's for sure, you won't find it at your local department store.

Originally from Russia and now France, the J. Mendel company has offered some of the finest furs in New York City for the past 20 years, most recently from its Madison Avenue boutique. It has built a reputation quietly -- until now. Last year it expanded its business by taking over the fur salon at Bergdorf Goodman. It also went national with J. Mendel for Legend, which is more than just another fur ad campaign. Gilles Mendel has become the first -- and so far the only -- fur designer to work with a new, super-exclusive group of the finest mink pelts in the world, named Legend. Gathered from the very top of the top mink produced by American Legend, the same North American cooperative of mink farms that gave us Blackglama mink years ago, the new J. Mendel for Legend mink garments offer an extremely unusual promise in the world of fur and fashion: the best quality mink in the world combined with young. fun yet elegant fashion created by world-renown craftsmen. J. Mendel for Legend is setting a new platinum standard for fine mink garments.

"We're not trying to sell grandmom's fur coat any longer," said Edward Brennan, chief executive of American Legend, which is based in Seattle. "When we decided to relaunch our new vision, we said, 'Now we want to position it from a fashion perspective, keep it totally unexpected and young." That modern approach can be seen at their web site, www.legendmink.com.

Exactly how different can great mink be from your average mink coat? Furs.com recently visited Gilles Mendel at his studio, where he was already submerged in designs for fall 2001.

furs.com: Your unconventional J. Mendel for Legend ads have turned a few heads this year, positioning fur on the beach. What are you trying to say with them?

Gilles Mendel: I think American Legend and the advertising agency were visionary, because they wanted to show fur in a different way, to make it feel fun and young and approachable, not stiff and old-fashioned like fur advertising usually is. It's all about the brand and what fur can be and not just about the product in front of a white background. I think this campaign has been very well received. The response we've had from consumers is tremendous, and it couldn't be any better from the fashion press. The campaign might not be conventional, but I promise you, at the end of the day it works. It really gives fur that luxurious but unexpected fashion sense.

furs.com: It has certainly raised your profile in the U.S. outside of New York City. For the consumer who's just getting to know you, how would you describe your style?

Gilles Mendel: I think the success of the J. Mendel for Legend collection is that, it's not theatrical or gimmicky. It's all about wearability, youth and fun but also -- because of the price points -- has a touch of conservatism. I wish that everything you buy from me would become a classic in your wardrobe. It's not trying to create a new fashion spin. It's offers a look that can be modern and young and exciting but also keeps in mind that this is one of the most beautiful and finest materials in the world, so you want to keep it for a long time.

furs.com: Where do you get your fashion inspiration, and who are your favorite designers?

Gilles Mendel: I'm very inspired by the classics of the 1960s and '70s. I admire the quality of the designs of those periods, and they're coming back in fashion. I'm not creating fashion news by doing what I do, but the artistry of old-time designers like Balenciaga, Pauline Trigere, Madame Gres, Balmain, and YSL of that period is tremendously influential in my design. I take those classics and give them the young, modern feeling of today. With the Legend collection, we're not in competition with the designers. We're not especially trying to do a designer collection.

furs.com: What's the J. Mendel for Legend campaign about? I understand it's not just about advertisements.

Gilles Mendel: We're trying to show that there is still a market for the very finest quality mink in the world made by the very finest standards, and that the finest furs can be sold without discounting them as soon as it gets cold outside. The value of very fine fur -- especially fine mink -- has become distorted due to fur industry practices that I disagree with. Up until our new campaign, the fur industry was all about designer labels and selling those labels at discounts. Department stores, unfortunately, looking only at the bottom line, use designers to promote everything else. They promote discounted designer furs to attract the average customer. I think the fur business has been damaged by this practice. It destroyed the prestige of fur, and the value of fur was no longer credible. Today when you shop for cashmere, leather and mink, you often wonder why a mink product can be less expensive than a cashmere product. So what Legend did with my collaboration and design is boosting the level of the market.

It was extremely challenging and brave of them to go completely outside of the industry norm and work with me, a small but very successful and prestigious designer. They've given me the best selection of mink to create a collection that is not necessarily a designer collection but a beautiful collection that meets the needs of the market.

furs.com: Why do you think American Legend chose you in 1999 to be the first and only designer working with its new Legend label?

Gilles Mendel: I have 20 years of experience in America, not only as a fur designer but also as a retailer for so many years at Elizabeth Arden -- they had 12 locations in America. Then I opened my store on Madison Avenue, and last year I added the Bergdorf Goodman salon. I've obviously learned the American luxury market, and I'm not a promotional person. I don't know the $999 mink coats. I don't know how to promote the fur business like it's been in the past, but I definitely know how to say that expensive products have some reason to be expensive. The fur is better, the selection of the pelts is better, and the manufacturing is better. With Legend mink, I want to show the world there is a success story that can happen keeping prices high, because the value of the product is higher.

We proved successful last year. The first year of the Legend campaign with Mendel, we ended up multiplying the volume of sales at the Bergdorf Goodman fur salon by five times what it did before I took over. The year prior to us (1998/99), the Bergdorf Goodman fur salon did $1.4 million, while last year we did $6 million. Plus, their old fur salon had 2,500 sq feet, and we had 900 square feet, so the increase is even more impressive when calculated by square footage. This proves there is a need for a better product that's not all about promotion and designers but also about the quality of pelts. It shows that very fine mink is beautiful in itself, and it gives the mink business back its real value.

furs.com: You already had very high standards for the products you sold. How has working with Legend mink improved them?

Gilles Mendel: Working with American Legend has been an extraordinary experience. It's like a painter who can only work with three colors, and today I have 25 colors to play with. It's given me a palette of color that's unbelievable. Besides the advertising, which has been extremely helpful, I think working with American Legend is the biggest honor a furrier can have, because it gives me the opportunity to work with ranchers who produce the mink. There is suddenly a relationship between the farmers, the designer and the end product. We can develop new ideas and think about how to improve the product. And I have the extraordinary opportunity to select the finest of the finest mink every season and offer the consumer a product that is unique and of limited availability.

furs.com: How does that work? You examine the American Legend mink pelts available for sale before the pelt auctions begin and hand-pick what you want before anybody else gets to it?

Gilles Mendel: That's correct. We have certain farms and qualities that we search for, and these are the ones that become the Legend label. I look for mink with specific characteristics that I like, and the consumer likes.

furs.com: Judging from e-mail questions to furs.com, I think consumers are often confused about the fact that they can buy a mink coat for four thousand dollars or forty thousand dollars. What's the difference? What are those specific characteristics you look for, and why is your mink coat better than one costing less?

Gilles Mendel: I use the analogy that Mother Nature doesn't make all people the same. When you walk down the street and try to find people in the crowd with a perfect look, how many have the perfect nose and eyes and so on? It's 0.001 percent of people. There is always something not quite perfect. In animals, it's the same thing. In fact you breed mink, but each farm produces different types of animals, and in each farm, there is always a certain perfection.

Perfection means the height of the hair, the density of the fur, the lightness of the leather, the uniformity of color, the silkiness and the overall aspect of the animal. If you want the best mink, you combine all these elements together. You want very silky, short-napped, extremely dense fur. In a way, it's like buying carpet; the density of hairs per square inch is very important. The less you have, the weaker the skin is. But if you have a lot and the hair is too long, it becomes bushy and too furry. If it's a lot and the hair is extremely short, it becomes like a piece of velvet. The more velvety, the more dense and shorter the nap is, the more beautiful the pelt is.

Usually the silkier pelts are smaller, and that makes the coat more precious, because the more pelts used, the more expensive the garment becomes. So the price range starts there.

furs.com: So how expensive is J. Mendel for Legend mink?

Gilles Mendel: We are more exclusive and more expensive, but we are not twice as expensive. Go look at Saks for a fine mink coat, before they discount it 50 percent and give you another 10 percent off, and then they call you at home if you haven't purchased it yet and tell you, if you come back tomorrow, they might give it away to you, but they'll charge you for the bag. Before all that, a fine mink coat at Saks costs $10,000 to $16,000. A fine coat at J. Mendel for Legend mink coat costs $16,000 to $18,000, not $40,000 like a Fendi coat [where you pay for the name -- ed.].

The difference is that, with J. Mendel for Legend, consumers are really buying value. Discounting coats 50 percent as soon as the season starts makes consumers think the coat is really valued 50 percent less, don't you think? But if we explain to the consumer that she can't buy a J. Mendel for Legend coat for 50 percent off, but she could buy another grade of mink, you give her the feeling that she's getting her money's worth by buying a J. Mendel for Legend. If she buys a coat from us, maybe she's getting an expensive garment, but we stand behind it and the value is not discounted.

furs.com: You say J. Mendel for Legend is not a designer collection, but without your involvement, they could have anybody make the coats.

Gilles Mendel: Our collection is obviously a designed collection. I meant, it's not like a designer collection that's out of style next season. I try to give an overall durability to my garments. I would like to be the Harry Winston or Manolo Blahnik of furs. Mine are the most prestigious, the most feminine, sexy, elegant, and desirable, but always with that twist of longevity. But definitely there's a lot of fashion to it. Right now we're working on the new collection based on the Rolling Stones in London in the 1970s, with all the velvets and furs treated like corduroy. It's going to be a lot of fun, and I definitely have a direction. It's a real strong collection, but I think we've proven that we appeal a much wider market than just the consumer who buys brands.

furs.com: Speaking of colors, now you have access to the extraordinary, natural mutation mink colors produced by American Legend ranchers. Are those coming back into fashion?

Gilles Mendel: Yes, we are going big-time into natural shades. That's one thing I never really explored last year. I was the king of the dyed furs. Now we're going to go away slightly from sheared mink and more into the regular mink, because I think fluffy things are in. Picking all the natural shades of American Legend mink will be fabulous. We'll use the whole range from dark gray to light beige, including Azurene, Cerulean, Rovalia, Jasmine, Lutetia and Tourmaline, and mix them together to make some very beautiful coats. We'll start from the Rolling Stones in England era and go on to the late 70s/early 80s, when mink became very opulent. Long-haired, natural mink became very rich again then with big shoulder pads, and that opulent spirit will be revealed again this coming season. We're going to do
luxurious mink in natural shades with very ample volume and details.

furs.com: Your company, J. Mendel, has a long and prestigious history. How does this affect what you're doing now, and how are you putting your mark on J. Mendel?

Gilles Mendel: I'm a fifth-generation furrier. My family started the business in Russia in 1870, and from generation to generation we went to Paris. I began working with my father in Paris in the late 1970s. What makes me different from my competition is that, I grew up with an exceptional master in the fur industry, my father. He's one of the last real artisans who, even now, is the only person I go to to make certain products nobody else can do. He has an extraordinary understanding of the material and teaches me how to look at fur and understand it and work it. There aren't that many of those masters left.

What also helps me is my youth spent in France, surrounded by fashion. The first thing I did was associate myself with other designers to master an understanding of the relationship between fur and fashion. I worked with Jean Charles de Castelbaljac and then with Bernard Perris, who had a store on Madison Avenue for a while and then became the designer for Jean Louis Scherrer. Bernard Perris was a huge source of inspiration, and he helped me understand there is no limit to working with fur, as long as you treat it like fabric. Once you have a technical understanding of fur, you can do anything with it. Those designers allowed my father and me to look at fur in a different perspective. We were the best little jewel-like fur store in Paris, but we needed evolution. So my training was not like a classic furrier, because I was a combination of a fabric designer and furrier. I worked for a year or two in Paris and then left for America.

furs.com: It sounds like, what a lot of ready-to-wear designers are doing today -- treating fur like fabric -- is what you've always done.

Gilles Mendel: That's correct. The reason I had instant success in America was because I was not a classic furrier. I didn't present a whole fur collection; I presented a collection of fur and fabric together. I was not trying to make the product less expensive, like everybody else was at the time, but I was elevating the fur and fabric product by saying fabric could be as pricey as fur, as long as the fabric and fur are the best. We were selling cashmere coats with fur trim for $5,000 and up, at a time when furriers were selling mink coats for $5,000 and down. That differentiated me from the classic furrier and allowed me to introduce myself to a broader market.

Experiencing the life of New York City, living with people my age -- many of whom were against fur or didn't understand it -- made me want to make fur more accessible to the public, and not by price but by making it competitive to other products that are beautiful. I want the person who is interested in buying a fabulous coat by Gucci or Prada to come to Mendel first. Here they will see the velvet sheared Legend mink and say, wow, I can choose between a $6,000 leather coat from Gucci and a $10,000 velvet Legend mink by Mendel. I'll go for the J. Mendel for Legend mink, because that's a real value. The style is great, and I'm getting something that's going to last. And the day I get tired of it, I can remodel it into something else I would wear. How many other products can you do that with? None, only fur.

furs.com: How did the original J. Mendel boutique at Elizabeth Arden begin? Who launched it?

Gilles Mendel: It began with me. I came to America and created a fur salon at Elizabeth Arden.

furs.com: How old were you?

Gilles Mendel: I was 27. It was amazing there. I had a fabulous experience with Elizabeth Arden.

furs.com: Why would you want to do such a thing? It must have been a tremendous undertaking. This was at a time when young people -- including your friends, you say -- were against fur, and you probably had obstacles, even though you also must have had family support.

Gilles Mendel: It's all about the love relationship between many generations. I had this beautiful jewel in my hands, my family's tradition. It was not about money, because I came here without any financial support from Europe. I did it on my own. It's not like I came from a wealthy family, who decided to throw a million dollars in New York. I had an MBA in business; I was a skier for many years; I did a lot of things. I made a choice, when I was 26 or 27, not to be a businessman. I was always very artistic, so I thought, why not do something that's part of my life, part of my family? What's more important in life than continuing a tradition, a love affair between a father and a son? I really love the product, and I wanted to follow the flag and bring the flag to another level.

furs.com: How did you put together a deal with a company like Elizabeth Arden when you were just 27?

Gilles Mendel: I came to NY on a tourist trip for a month to see if I could do anything. A week prior to leaving, I realized that, unless I had millions of dollars, I couldn't open a store on Madison Avenue. Then, purely by chance, I met the president of Elizabeth Arden. On the basis of one conversation and handshake, I came to Elizabeth Arden paying no rent, only commission on sales, which allowed me to move in. For 15 years, I worked at Elizabeth Arden successfully, and I'm the one who left. I decided it was time to go out on my own rather than continue to be the best-kept secret in town.

furs.com: What year was that? I bet people thought you were crazy.

Gilles Mendel: It was 1995, which is significant, because it was a difficult time for the fur industry. Elizabeth Arden, a cosmetic company that definitely doesn't need bad publicity, could have asked me to leave if there was any kind of problem. In the early 1990s to 1995, when the fur business was down to zero and everybody was screaming help, and windows were being broken, I always did well at Elizabeth Arden. It tells you I must have done something right by always keeping standards at the highest possible level and never lowering to promotional pricing. This kept our relationship at its finest, and I think that's also proof that American Legend is doing the right thing with its new label.

Yes, when I moved to my store on Madison Avenue, people thought I was totally nuts. They felt that I was going to have windows broken, have only problems, and my business would fail. But I made the move for me, because I had made enough money to build my own store and felt the time was right. We might not sell as many coats as a Saks aims to, but we made $12 million dollars in Manhattan with two stores last year, compared to $4.5 million two years ago with our store on Madison Avenue alone. Store per store, we've done very well.

furs.com: What are your future plans? Do you have further growth in mind?

Gilles Mendel: Yes, right now we're testing Chicago. We've just opened a shop-in-shop at Ultimo, a store on Oak Street. We took the second floor and the windows downstairs. We've been testing the market for a month. If we feel this has a future, we'll eventually build a shop-in-shop there like at Bergdorf. We're also investigating other places in America for the future, like California and Aspen, and checking out Europe and Asia -- Japan, Hong Kong, China.

I believe there is tremendous potential for the J. Mendel collection, because we're selling the best product and value and maintaining our price structure. You can't sell a Rolls Royce at the price of a Ford, because then the Rolls Royce wouldn't have any credibility. When companies promote a $10,000 coat for $3,000, it must really cost them $1,500, and that is wrong. That's just hype. I'm only interested in selling the best of the best, J. Mendel for Legend.