Saga Furs has welcomed more than 25,000 guests from all over the world to Saga Design Centre since it opened in 1988.

As the designer’s choice, Saga Furs has invited creative minds from around the globe to Saga Design Centre to explore the future world of fur.

The historic manor was built at the start of the 20^th century as the country residence of a renowned Danish opera singer.

The residential wing of the manor house is where guests of Saga Furs stay when visiting Saga Design Centre. Adminstration offices and the Saga Workshop are located in other sections of the building.

Saga Furs singled out all possibilities amid the pressures of the late ‘80s and transformed them into opportunities. The core idea was to develop new ways to use fur and share this know-how. It took time, investment and a lot of creative brainpower to breathe new life into fur and bolster the Saga Furs brand.

Kati Stern, Venexiana visits SDC.(left) Arne & Carlos, Norwegian design duo visiting (right)

“We recruited the best talent around, as our task was basically to reinvent fur. Saga Furs already had a reputation for high quality and ethical practices based upon our Nordic heritage,” says Saga Furs CEO Jan Erik Carlson.  “Still, it was a difficult time back in the late Eighties: hot economies had begun to cool down, a string of warm winters in key markets stifled demand, fur was more or less a footnote in designers’ collections. And on top of it all, the anti-fur movement had gained temporary momentum by recruiting celebrities—a situation that’s quite the opposite of what we see today.”

Jennifer Lopez (left) realized her fur dreams with the help of Saga Furs. SDC has welcomed design teams, tutors and students of fashion as well as individual designers.

But fur was the first piece of apparel and has been around ever since due to its utility, durability and of course, the material’s intrinsic beauty. Fur was the original “object of desire,” so Saga Furs made a decision: to create a new and sustainable future for its brand, built upon the twin cornerstones of ethics and quality.

“We founded Saga Design Centre based upon the central—and basically simple—idea of inviting people here to show them new possibilities for fur and help them realize creative ideas.

The strategy was to modernize the Saga Furs brand by developing new uses and looks that would identify Saga Furs on a global scale; and more importantly,
to share this know-how with designers, furriers, teachers of design and other players in the fashion industry,” says Carlson. “Now, twenty years and 25,000 visitors to Saga Design Centre later, the Saga Furs label is everywhere you see innovative fashion. Nearly all designers and fashion houses use fur. And I would underscore the fact that they have made it an integral part of their collections, not simply an extra for special clients. We certainly wouldn’t try to take all the credit, but I have to say: We did succeed in what we set out to do.”

Fur has always been synonymous with luxury and during the past 20 years the luxury segment has become more visible than ever. As runways around the world have illustrated, the Saga Furs brand has grown and is now an integral part of couture and pret-a-portier.

“Fur will remain a highlight of the overall fashion picture and in light of our long term strategy to remain ‘The Designer’s Choice,’ Saga Furs is in an excellent position to play an even larger role by developing new ideas in fur,” says Carlson. “Saga Furs has earned a solid global reputation and our label signals luxury and ethics. We are building upon those two factors and remain very optimistic about what the future will bring, and the new ideas we will bring into the future.”