NEW YORK, Feb. 13, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- As Fall Fashion Week comes to a close in New York City and after 75+ runway shows, one trend was self-evident, and that was fur. Mink and fox, the world's most popular ranched furs, were seen in abundance in more than 35 designer collections. One company responsible for inspiring designers with the latest fur working techniques each season is Saga Furs of Scandinavia.
"We sponsored 15 American designers and lent inspiration to at least a dozen more," says Steve Gold, North American Director of Saga Furs of Scandinavia, the world's largest fur marketing association. "Fur has been part of fall fashions for about ten years now, so designers need to continually see new and innovative ways of working with this luxury material to keep them interested. That's the most important role that Saga plays in this market and in fact, in fashion markets worldwide."
This year Saga was a sponsor to Marc Jacobs, Nicole Miller, Vivienne Tam, Cynthia Steffe, Cynthia Rowley, Gustavo Arango, Chaiken, Behnaz Sarafpour, Gary Graham, James Coviello, Cat Swanson, Jeffrey Chow, Derek Lam, Alvin Valley and David Rodriguez. The company lent inspiration and shared new fur working techniques with Michael Kors, Carolina Herrera, Badgley Mischka, Zang Toi, Peter Som and Carmen Marc Valvo to name a few.
"Fur is no longer simply a coat or a jacket," continued Gold, "Fur has become part of the fashion vocabulary and today it's as ubiquitous on runways as cashmere."
Saga Furs of Scandinavia is a cooperative organization representing fur breeders from the four Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The SAGA label is a quality mark signifying fine quality mink and fox pelts.