04.03.2017
Fur is a forever material – anyone who is lucky enough to have had a fur coat handed down through generations knows this. For AW17, Milan’s designers seemed to be tapping into this sustainable sentiment (which has also long been an important part of Saga Furs’ philosophy), from Jeremy Scott highlighting the importance of recycling at Moschino to Dolce & Gabbana’s family-focused show filled with fur heirlooms in the making.
The week reconfirmed fur’s central position in fashion, and everything was rooted in superb craftsmanship, showcasing new techniques for glamorous Finnraccoon and fox as well as colourful intarsia mink. Here, we round up the key looks from a triumphant week for fur in Milan.
Dolce & Gabbana
With a cast of millennial influencers, royals and real families, Dolce & Gabbana’s show was a cross-generational affair where everyone was playing dress-up with the family heirlooms, beautifully showing the ageless allure of fur. Dramatic Finnraccoon and fox were used as opulent accents on signature leopard print outerwear, coats covered in 3D flowers and as a sumptuous contrast to lamb. Sheared mink also made an appearance in one of this season’s key colours: a rich ruby red coat with pretty bows.
Versace
Words like unity, loyalty, love and courage were spelled out in bold capitals across Donatella Versace’s collection. Her powerful peace warriors were clad in flower power mink intarsia with floral appliqués and the designer highlighted fierce femininity with the wild glamour of longhaired furs: a dyed Finnraccoon and fox coat was sheared around the waist to create a striking hourglass shape – woman and nature as one – while Fox was used to create an intricate diamond trellis coat with a statement fox lapel.
Moschino
The Moschino runway was covered in cardboard to draw attention to our wasteful society and how we need to recycle more, and the message was carried over into garments. Incredible va-va-voom multi-fur looks were pieced together from contrasting Silver Fox, Gold Fox and Smokey Fox, almost as if they were upcycled from vintage fur coats.
Gucci
“We need to let the world not go so fast. If you’re doing that, you don’t reflect, and in these times we need to reflect more,” Gucci’s Alessandro Michele told US Vogue. The designer’s furs reflect this idea: Michele favours a granny-chic mink coat, which he gently tweaks each season. For AW17, it came in Pearl Mink with a bouquet of intarsia flowers across the back.
Fendi
There’s a graphic sleekness to Fendi – imbedded in its house logo – and for AW17 this geometry was brought to the fore. Discs of Pastel Mink were placed across a sheared red dyed mink jacket or used to create stunning marquetry on black karakul. As always, the intarsia pieces were incredible: sheared red dyed mink with laser-cut wine leaves, a Pastel Mink coat with blue paint splatters and white flowers. Shapes were ladylike and classic; furs you’d want to wear again and again over the coming decades. The collection cemented Fendi’s place as a fur house that continually produces strikingly modern yet timeless pieces.
Gabriele Colangelo
Sleek geometry echoed at Colangelo, where a fur jacket came layered with a mink vest dyed in a slim white check. The natural stripe in Arctic Marble Frost Fox was used to accentuate the lines of a jacket, creating a subtle sense of tailoring where the sleeves met the body. Another standout look was a sheared almost-black green mink wrap dress, deconstructed to hang off the body.
Missoni
Milan’s feel-good vibes also came through at Missoni in colourful, faintly nostalgic furs. The house’s signature chevron was used to create warm, vibrant mink intarsia coats and lapels, while the house stripe was applied to beautiful fox jackets and gilets – one of which looked like the colours had seeped out like paint on a canvas.
Roberto Cavalli
Haute hippie and wild, exotic glamour: that was the mood at Cavalli. Voluminous yet airy fox inserts elevated multi-texture jackets in bobble knit and lamb, while a standout look used intarsia mink to emulate leopard, set off by an oversize Gold Fox collar.
