Cashmere Confidential For the season of sweater buying, some tips on how to tell the good from the bad

Buying a cashmere sweater used to be a simple thing. The wool came from the bellies of goats in India or Tibet and was spun in Scotland. Cashmere goods were generally expensive, but rare, and worth the cost. "In the old days, cashmere had a certain allure, and the allure created a certain price point," said veteran cashmere salesman Jack Bain, who has represented Pringle of Scotland and a number of Scottish woolen mills. Now, chains are selling cashmere sweaters for less than $100. According to Mr. Bain, "cashmere is generic, like a jockey short."

Many manufacturers today employ cost-saving methods that impoverish the product: using fibers of varying length, spinning the wool before it's fully dried after dyeing. A salesperson is not likely to talk about these shortcuts, and they don't have a particularly noticeable effect on how a cashmere sweater looks or feels—at least, not at first. Give an inferior cashmere sweater a few wears, though, and you'll see it starts to pill much sooner than a good one.

Meanwhile, luxury labels have found ways (adding fur trim, using baby cashmere) to up the ante. In short, the difference between good and bad cashmere has never been so pronounced. The goats of Mongolia, Iran and Afghanistan are now part of the global supply chain, and even the most respected purveyors also sell lower grades of cashmere. With price and provenance telling less and less of the story, the average retail customer buys cashmere with only a dim idea of what he's paying for.

Fortunately, there are some ways for the consumer to test a garment's quality, including its pilling potential. Stretch the fabric with your hands; if it reverts immediately to its former shape, that's good. If not, it may contain cheaper fabrics or have been knit too loosely. According to Cédric Turk, executive vice president and general manager at Zilli, an upscale French cashmere brand, the density of a cashmere garment's weave is a sign of quality. "Cheaper brands knit with more space because it takes less time and cashmere," Mr. Turk noted. Hold an expensive sweater up to the light—you shouldn't be able to see through it.

A common misconception is that softer cashmere is better, but it's not that simple. A fabric's fluff could be the result of fine fibers and spinning—or of harsh artificial softeners.

Some cashmere brands, including high-end European ones, soften up their sweaters with repeated washings. Scottish traditionalists consider this gilding the lily—and point out that it reduces the garment's lifespan. Established Scottish manufacturers such as Todd & Duncan, founded in 1867 and suppliers of yarn to Brooks Brothers and Hermès, claim that the soft, pure loch water in which they wash and dye their cashmere swells the fabric more delicately than additional washing does. Even if a four-ply Scottish sweater feels slightly coarser on the shelf than its French or Italian counterpart, the argument goes, it lasts for decades, arriving at cozy perfection around the time those fancy continental sweaters might start to pill. On the other hand, there's something to be said for that "instant, tangible feel of luxury," said premium-cashmere purveyor Brunello Cucinelli.

Although most shoppers will probably never become experts on the matter, they can examine sweaters for bubbles or so-called "chicken feet," ripples and wrinkles in a weave that appear when factories knit too fast. Or, follow Mr. Turk's advice that particularly in cashmere, established brands have the edge, if only because customers have put their product's durability to the test for decades. Cashmere, after all, should be soft but rugged, have real weight but feel light as air. And by no means must it have origins in Kashmir, the mountainous region from which it takes its name. In other words, it should discreetly defy logic. As Mr. Turk said, "That's the magic of cashmere."

—Darrell Hartman

Refurbished: Fur makeovers take center stage - Restyling and recycling old fur is a popular option this season

By John-John Williams IV, The Baltimore Sun

Doris Randall hadn't worn her brown bomber mink coat in ages. Her full-length shearling coat got even less use — she wore it about twice in the 15 years since her husband gave it to her.
She considered giving the garments to charity before discovering Seleh's De Federal Hill, a tailor and furrier specializing in remodeling leathers and furs. A few months later, Randall had a new three-quarter-length coat for herself and a contemporary-looking mink vest with black sweater sleeves that she gave to her daughter.
"It was a Iot like putting together a puzzle," the Pikesville resident said. "They made it work, and made something that we are both enjoying. I've been able to get a lot of wear throughout the winter. I saw the vest on my daughter the other day."

The days of bulky furs are over. Cost-conscious consumers, environmental concerns and changing fashion trends have made recycling and refashioning furs a popular option in recent years. As a result, a growing number of furriers, designers and boutique owners are cashing in on the trend and are catering to a new crop of customers.
Furs are prime candidates for refashioning; people typically don't throw them away because of their costs and sentimental feelings associated with the garment, according to Karen Groner, an adjunct professor specializing in leather design at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Groner, who has 30 years of experience in the business, also owns Grownbeans, a small Manhattan studio that specializes in suede, leather and fur.
"We associate wearing [fur] coats with it being a special occasion," Groner said. "There's a real attraction. They are associated with happy times. … People want to hold on to that memory. But they also want to keep up with the style. Fashion changes. A coat doesn't look good with those '80s shoulder pads."
Seleh Rahman, owner of Seleh's De Federal Hill, said remodeled fur projects are up 75 percent at his shop.
"The last three seasons, it has been a big-ticket item," Rahman said from his South Charles Street workroom, where he was in the process of lengthening a mink coat. His assistant was putting the finishing touches on the fur-trim collar accents of a cashmere coat.

Rahman takes older, heavier furs and turns them into thinner, more contemporary-looking jackets and vests. He's also known for his ability to create virtually any garment from fur pieces, including handbags, decorative trim for jean jackets and bow ties.
"It's a complicated process," said Rahman, who has operated the business for the past 36 years. "You have to be really skilled, so that the furs can match and look correct. Really, you only get one shot."
The labor and skill required to complete a fur redesign doesn't come cheap, and projects can cost several thousand dollars.

"It takes a lot of work to rework a coat," Groner said. "You have to completely take it apart and completely put it back together. And then you pray that it holds up."
A complete fur redesign project usually takes about four to six weeks. During this time, pelts are restored, oiled, and refashioned. Customers typically meet with the designer several times for fittings and to discuss pattern options.

Mano Swartz, the Green Spring Station furrier, offers a "Mano-makeover," in which the company promises to repurpose outdated furs into contemporary lightweight pieces in four to six weeks. Prices range from $450 for a pull-string caplet to $2,750 for a reversible coat.
"It's much less expensive to redo something than to buy something new," said Debbie Swartz, the designer and buyer at Mano Swartz. She noticed a significant spike in refashioned and repaired furs three years ago. "It's really nice to be able to show them the options that they didn't know existed."
The downturn in the economy has also increased business for shops that can restore coats, saving owners the cost of replacing them.

Erin Hopkins has had her eight-year-old black mink coat repaired by Rahman a couple of times in the past few years, including having the pockets repaired and the sleeves redone.
Why hasn't she given the coat away?
"I worked hard for that coat," the Federal Hill resident said with a laugh. Hopkins' husband gave it to her as a reward for attending 15 University of Texas football games with him. "It took me 19 years to get that coat."
Fur has also remained a staple in fashion, especially in the colder months, and designers have shown it some love recently. Gucci's 1970s-inspired fall and winter lines for 2011 and 2012 seem to have jump-started the latest fur resurgence, according to fashion experts. As a result, many designers scrambled to find fur to accent garments.

Swartz points to Gucci's collection when helping customers choose new ways to refashion older garments. "I try and show our customers what is going on in fashion now," she said. "Some customers really get it and love it."

Karen Garalde, a Baltimore-based designer who specializes in using eco-friendly materials, has also been following the trends and is in the process of designing several pieces using recycled fur.
"This season I knew that I wanted to play with more texture," Garalde said. "I love vintage fur. I thought it would be fun and interesting. I noticed that there has been a huge trend for fur this season."
Garalde, who has made garments from items such as coffee filters and salvaged fabrics, said she has few reservations about using vintage furs.


"Since it's not new, I feel better about it," Garalde said." I know that it is sustainable. That's what makes me more intrigued to use it."
Environmental implications played a large factor when Hampden boutique owner Linda Pfleiderer decided to carry Harricana, a Canadian-based line of recycled fur products.
"We loved the concept of recycling and giving new life to things that would be thrown away," said Pfleiderer, who co-owns In The Details, a men's and women's boutique that has been open less than a year. "We thought it was a really cool line."

Customers have responded favorably, purchasing handbags, fur accented hats, scarves, and cross-body bags. Pieces range from $26 up to $514.
Her customers "are really into the fur, and they are into the recycled aspect. It's really good for the environment," Pfleiderer said. "And they are getting really cool-looking pieces."
Above all, customers like the look of recycled fur pieces, according to merchants.
"I love when customers come in and say they never wore it, and now it is their everyday coat," Swartz said. "That makes me so happy. We can always craft a coat. There is always something we can do."
Randall, the Pikesville resident who had two of her furs redesigned, is pleased with her new garments.
"I consider him an extremely lucky find," she said of Rahman. "I was going in blind. I was extremely pleased. My friends have beaten a path to his door."

Even in hard times, soft still sells at Pur Cashmere

Leslie Deane Roth is a master of the soft sell.
Cashmere, to be precise. Many of the blankets, throws, pillow covers, scarves and other items she offers through Palm Desert-based Pur Cashmere LLC are made of fine cashmere fibers combed from Mongolian goats each spring after the animals endured hard winters.

Such culling is labor-intensive, so durable cashmere is expensive.

“Right now, people are very price-conscious,” Roth said. “People maybe can't afford to buy a new sofa, but they'll buy a throw, a new bedspread. It brightens up your life, but it's not that expensive.”

When the recession altered consumers' attitudes and prompted many to be more value-oriented, Roth helped design and create a blend of soft yarns. They're made from the heart of bamboo plants and cashmere fibers, have a similar look and feel of pure cashmere, but are less expensive.

Roth was able to engineer the yarns based on three decades of experience in the textile industry.

She started in Los Angeles, eventually becoming one of the first women to source textile materials for large companies in Asia. She worked with suppliers to import cashmere items from Mongolia even though most of them didn't speak English at the time.

In 2005, Roth decided to break out on her own. She surprised many in her family by launching Pur Cashmere with $10,000 she borrowed against equity in her Boston home.

She was confident in her vision for the company.

“It took off, and I haven't had to borrow money since,” Roth said.

“I figured either it will grow organically or I'll close shop.”

Roth moved to the desert this spring and bought a mid-century home in Palm Desert.
She has grandchildren in the San Deigo area and decided to establish her business at a warehouse suite on Joni Drive.

Pur Cashmere offers nearly 50 products billed as “refined luxury for modern lifestyles.”

Her core customers are mostly 25- to 45-year-olds from across America and beyond.

Pur Cashmere supplies several local specialty retailers, including Tuverson & Co., and Jolie Maison — both in Palm Desert.
“We just had a big buy from Amazon,” said Roth, noting online sales have been brisk at her website purcashmere.com.

Roth is planning a warehouse sale in March.

Finding inspiration
Although the small warehouse suite just off Cook Street has no company sign, Roth and three employees spend days filling customer orders.

They're surrounded by colorful stacks of shawls, wraps, driving blankets and other items.

There are honeysuckle and chocolate chiffon ribbons, plaid scarves of cocoa, gold and blue, crème ultrawool Jacquard throws.

Roth has designed many of the cashmere, bamboo and other blended items, which are made in Mongolia and shipped here.

Although the cashmere industry is comparatively small, the product has held up well despite difficulties in many key markets because it's viewed as high-quality, “extremely light, yet extraordinarily warm,” said Michael Duck, executive vice president with trade fair organizer UBM Asia Ltd., which put on the Cashmere World event in October in Beijing.

“The majority of cashmere comes from northern China,” Duck said.

Roth finds inspiration to design her products at museums and through art. She attended graduate school in Boston and studied architecture and museum studies.

Roth said Californians tend to embrace brighter colors.

“You go into somebody's house and say, ‘What would fit in here?' You think of colors.”

Roth works with Asian suppliers to create the colors and designs, often communicating late at night because of the time difference.

Nowadays, most younger Asian managers not only speak English but are business-savvy and understand American nuances, she said.

“They're very personable,” Roth said.

“I know their families, when they're getting married, their children. They're very hard-working and resourceful, and I have a lot of respect for them.”
By Mike Perrault

Proper care for your leather and exotic skin fashion investments

by Celine Gabriel

Every stylista knows the value of a good piece of skin, whether that be leather, snakeskin, croc, alligator or ostrich, etc. With proper care, these investment pieces will age gracefully and can be made to last a lifetime.
Here are some tips on how to care for your special leather items:
Probably the most important part of caring for these special items is how we store it. Never store the items in non-breathable materials, such as plastic, as this will dry up the leather.
Avoid very humid and dry environments. This shortens the life expectancy of your leather.
If the item gets wet, allow it to dry out naturally, away from any heat source which can damage the skin’s natural oils. Excessive dryness can cause the skin to crack, while excessive moisture will cause mildew.
Treat your leather with a conditioner (you can buy this in any department store) every 6 months to restore flexibility and proper moisture levels.
For suede and nubuck, wipe it off with a terry cloth towel to restore its look.
When it comes to more exotic skins, like python, croc and alligator for instance, special attention must be given to its cleaning, which cannot be treated by traditional leather products. Particularly with python, which is a type of snakeskin, the scales will eventually dry out and curl up off the bag. Considering the cost of python, proper care for you snakeskin item is most important in order for it to last years in good condition.
Here are some tips on how to care for your special exotic skin items:

• Dampen a small piece of cloth with warm water and wipe down your snakeskin item, smoothing in the direction of the scales to avoid lifting them up.

• Pat the item dry with a towel as excess wetness can cause the skin to darken.

• If you need to clean beneath the scales, clean each individual scale gently with a cotton swab, being careful not to lift it any more than necessary.

• Dry the bag in a cool, dark place. Do not speed dry with a source of heat as this will cause the scales to dry out and lift faster.

• Once dry, apply an exotic skin conditioner, again smoothing in the direction of the scales.

• For crocodile and alligator leather, use the same method of wiping the item down with a damp piece of cloth, patting it dry with a towel, drying the bag in a cool, dark place and then applying an exotic skin conditioner.

Comment, questions, suggestions? Please email me at celine_gabriel_column@yahoo.com

Fur on the Catwalk

By Vanessa Friedman
There was one trend in Milan that overwhelmed all others. One trend that surpassed, say, a love of 1970s shades like purple, teal and mustard, or an embrace of tuxedo dressing, or a strange attraction to gold pleated palazzo pants, all trends which appeared on many, but not every, runway. This trend showed up on nearly every catwalk and in nearly every presentation and next season, like it or not, will be impossible to ignore.

That trend was fur, and though some of it was fake (see Prada and Bottega Veneta) and some of it was “eco” (see Emporio Armani, though what exactly “eco” fur is was never defined), most of it was very, very real.

Now, before you go and say, “But there is fur on the runway every autumn/winter, especially in Milan, home of traditional skins houses,” know this: even given that truth, it is still impossible to remember a season that involved so much animal attraction. The lone hold-outs were Jil Sander, where Raf Simons was busy exploring the technical side of skiwear and couture, and Valextra, where the newest launch was the “Madison”, a cross between a structured handbag and a briefcase. But everywhere else, as far as the eye could see: fox and raccoon and chinchilla and mink and sable and skunk. And not just on coats.

There were floor-length fur skirts at Giorgio Armani; intarsia furs at Versace; furs in all colours of the rainbow at Gucci; fur bibs at Prada. There were sheepskin spike-heeled boots and big smooshy bags at Bally; Mongolian lamb cross-body totes at Furla and Mongolian lamb sleeves on cashmere sweaters at Ballantyne; mink fur booties at Jimmy Choo; and mink stiletto sandals at René Caovilla. There were even matching white fox bags and boots at Tod’s. A girl could be forgiven for thinking she had taken a wrong turn at the catwalks and wandered on to the set of Wild Kingdom.

The question, of course, is why, and for that we go to Tommaso Bruso, the chief executive of Furla. “It’s the perception of value,” he said. “Brands need to show consumers what they are paying for, and this is one way to do it: by investing heavily in materials.”

But aren’t they afraid of a backlash? Before the shows, the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) sent around a group mailing describing, in graphic terms, the problems they saw with fur, and young actresses/role models such as Natalie Portman and Emma Watson are vocally anti-fur.
The answer, pretty much everywhere, was: “no”. They did their due diligence, they are satisfied with their suppliers, the ethical questions were asked and answered. Get ready for things to heat up, in every sense of the word.
For more news on the shows, visit Vanessa Friedman’s blog, www.ft.com/materialworld

Kate Moss dominates in Leather

By Jodie Thomson

Just 24 hours after hitting the town for London Fashion Week and ditching her dress halfway through the night, Kate Moss made another serious fashion statement as she headed out to the NME awards.

Never one to disappoint in the fashion stakes, the model this time chose to cover it all up - in a floor length black leather dress. 

The supermodel, 37, paired the dominatrix inspired frock with a black blazer and black patent stilettos as she headed over to the Brixton Academy, accompanied by her rockstar beau Jamie Hince for the music magazines annual bash.

Kate has been a prominent face on the London social scene this week and had another busy day of it following her raucous night earlier this week. Then she started off at Number 10 Downing Street, ended up minus a dress, plus a kebab with an added fracas on the side courtesy of fiancé Jamie and some photographers.

Buy up fur before it's too late!

Fur sales soar amid fears over rising pelt prices - despite PETA protests at New York Fashion Week

By JENNIFER MADISON

Animal rights group PETA may have been using New York Fashion Week to protest against the use of fur, but their aggressive campaigns don't seem to have had an impact on sales.

Demand for animal skins is higher than ever, according to industry insiders, who credit the surge in sales to designers who increasingly use them in collections, and interest from China, which is responsible for 70 per cent of global fur sales.  

But the growing trend for fur is sparking a rise in wholesale prices, with a predicted increase of 15-20 per cent this year.

Animal magic: Fur is soaring in price as trend-setting labels like Michael Kors fuel Chinese demand, which is responsible for 70 per cent of global sales

The average price of some mink pelts has climbed as high as 20 per cent in the past two months alone, according to data quoted in the New York Post.

And designers have reported that the finest quality pelts are commanding prices of up to 50 per cent more than usual.

The spike in the cost of fur follows a 10 per cent rise in 2010, a spokesman from North American Fur Auctions revealed.

Retailers are expected to cope with the increase by passing it on to shoppers.

Intermix CEO Khajak Keledjian told the paper: 'People are ordering their fur earlier in the season than ever because they're afraid of what they'll have to pay if they wait until the following week.'

PETA launched a series of campaigns against the use of fur this week, in a bid to harness attention from the press in New York for Fashion Week.

The animal rights group unveiled several celebrity-endorsed posters that bore the tagline: 'Fur? I'd rather go naked.'

And Project Runway's Tim Gunn backed a new bid to ban the use of animal pelts at New York Fashion Week on Friday.

He said: 'I'm on a campaign to get as many fashion designers as possible to stop using it. I'd just like to sit with them and have a talk and ask: "Is it really necessary?"'

PETA also threatened to storm designer Donna Karan's headquarters in Manhattan during fashion week with the excruciating sound of screaming rabbits in protest of her use of the animals' skins.

Fur continues to be heavily favoured by the fashion set however, with the industry's matriarch, Anna Wintour, regularly spotted in fur coats.

And if the latest collections are any indication, it appears fashion designers are using fur more than ever, with Michael Kors and Oscar de la Renta using it in their collections.

Animal skins aren't the only thing affecting designers' production costs. Earlier this week it was revealed the cost of cotton was set to soar as well.

Rising costs of labour and raw materials were said to be to blame.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1357993/Fur-sales-soar-despite-PETA-protests-amid-fears-rising-pelt-prices.html#ixzz1EaMKL8rm