Mink Can Still Set Those Pulses Racing
Of all the retail mergers in the apparel industry of late, the new team of Somper-Lowell (previously Somper Furs and Edwards Lowell furriers) makes for one of the oddest couples.
Edwards Lowell has been known for classic styles, many of them custom-designed by Merrill Lowell himself, which attract a blue-blood clientele. Somper Furs accents designer-label stock and tends to draw younger, flashier shoppers.
The merger of family-owned businesses such as these is more common now than in the past, because of the growing number of large chain stores such as Fur Vault Inc. and Evans Inc. with tremendous buying power, they must compete against.
The different tastes were well represented at a fashion show to celebrate the merger. One moment, Somper’s rhinestone-studded, white mink coat from the Dynasty Collection by Joan Collins flashed down the runway. The next, an intricately worked Fendi-like golden sable coat by Italian fur designer Giuliana Teso took the stage.
The audience consisted of a fair share of older women, but recent statistics reflect a startling change in the fur business--its typical customer. In 1977, 50-year-old women were picking out mink coats that were paid for by their husbands. But in 1989 more fur buyers are women in their late 20s or early 30s who already own more than one fur and pick up their own tab, according to a study compiled by the Fur Council.
Best-selling furs in California are ermine and sable, as well as mink, even in unusual colors such as raspberry, says Jeff Lehman of Somper-Lowell. Capes and stoles are leading silhouettes for mild winters in Los Angeles.
In Chicago, however, 23-year-old Ramona Liggons, a licensing technician for an insurance company, recently splurged on a full-length blue fox and a matching hat. She added this coat to her growing fur collection that already includes a full-length mink.
Cynthia Hall, a native Californian now based in Texas, admits she gets sweaty with lust every time she enters a fur salon, something she’s been doing regularly since she was 18 years old. After 12 years of unrequited longing, Hall finally bought a fur. “I should have bought a car with the money. But I knew the coat would do more for me.”
In December, Hall, an independent film producer, has to travel to Europe. The coat will stay home. She fears a confrontation with animal rightists. “I’m not comfortable with having to defend my fur lust,” she said. “I have no rebuttal.”
Assuaging customers’ guilt is one of the fur manufacturers’ latest tactics for countering the anti-fur forces. Fur breeders are doing their share to promote business, with the newly formed Fur Farm Animal Welfare Coalition, which sets rigid codes by which all ranch-raised fur-bearing animals must be maintained. There are specific guidelines for cage size, quality of food, and regular inspections by veterinarians.
