26.03.2026
Last week Creative Hub hosted a compact, international group of students. All of them succeeded extremely well in the competitions Saga Furs runs at the fashion institutes of IED Roma, Paris College of Art, and Copenhagen Fashion & Design School. In addition to fur techniques, sustainability and traceability topics were in focus. This time, however, the concept was slightly different from before, as the talented group focused on a special design project, experimenting with North American Royal Black Mink.
One of the targets of also this one-week workshop was to further strengthen cooperation with educational institutions focused on fashion and design. Collaboration with educational institutions requires both financial and time investment from Saga Furs. The company aims not only to serve as a global marketplace for furs but also to spread enthusiasm and ideas related to fur craftsmanship. At the same time, the international fur community is strengthened, and participants also further spread knowledge on sustainability.
Knowledge fuels the desire to learn more
Daniele, a graduate student from IED Roma, used fur in his final year thesis. He took the fur course at IED with Professor Tiziana Melchiorri, who also visited the Creative Hub two years ago.
“I already have knowledge about fur, but that only makes me eager to learn more. I’m interested in all aspects related to this material, including how the auction process works and how fur is sold in different phases of the value chain,” Daniele describes his expectations for the workshop.
He also believes strongly that the anti-fur movement stems largely from a lack of facts -or a refusal to seek information – about fur farming and the sustainability standards the industry has maintained for years.
“Fashion professionals aren’t opposed to fur once they understand the material. Naturally, some people oppose any use of animals. Strangely enough, they may accept leather, even though it also comes from an animal – just without the hair.'”
“Nothing gets wasted”
Daniele finds the topics of sustainability and traceability extremely important. He was already familiar with these issues and was delighted to attend the presentation by Saga Furs’ Marika Peuhkuri-Grön.
“Animals should be treated in the best possible way, and the whole process needs to be transparent. I’m also impressed by the efficiency of the production chain, where nothing gets wasted or ends up in landfills,” Daniele pointed out.
Although he has a background in fur, this was the first time Daniele had the chance to work with unused fur. Prior to this, he had been experimenting with vintage fur.
For Daniele, the workshop was a truly hands-on experience. He called it a privilege to have unrestricted opportunities to experiment and combine fur with other materials. Luckily, avant-garde combinations are precisely the direction he intends to take in his career.
The joy of experimenting – creating beautiful results
The group made technical swatches and had an opportunity to combine it with other materials. The best creations were selected to be a part of Creative Hub samples, giving further inspiration to other designers.
The Creative Hub staff is very happy about the workshop and points out that the students were so excited and efficient from the start; it was a pleasure watching them. They conducted experiment after experiment and were really interested in working with fur in the future.
In the group photo, from the top left: Veronica, Daniele, Akane, Magenta, Elisabeth, and Alejandra. In the front are the furriers Vittoria Tosatto and Sofia Dimitriadis from Saga Furs.
The group worked on North American Royal Black Mink and its combinations. These creations were made:
-Veronica (Paris College of Art) braided mink and did weaving on a net with it.
-Alejandra (Paris College of Art) did mink on fabric and embroidered some pearls to that.
-Akane (Paris College of Art) made mink yarn then took ribbons and pearls and knitted a piece.
-Magenta (Fashion & Design School of Copenhagen) did Mink & leather stripes combination with attached mink flowers.
-Elisabeth (Fashion & Design School of Copenhagen) did mink and fox on a fabric. Mink was done with the rya technique and fox stripes were added with the fur machine.
-Daniele (IED Rome) did a pattern combination with mink, leather & Finnraccoon.