Fur matters
Is a passion for fur a central part of the Russian character? Will it always be so?
Keywords
Please match the words on the left with their definitions on the left.
Indispensable (para. 2) very fashionable or up to date
Pelts (para. 4) a person who does not eat or use animal products Savvy (para. 5) absolutely necessary
Entrepreneurs (para. 5) a thing that is regarded as more important than others
(to) sport (para. 5) lacking restraint in spending money or using resources
Trendy (para. 5) having a lot of money; wealthy
Affluent (para. 8) shrewdness and practical knowledge, especially in politics or business
a must (para. 9) started (used only to describe business or cities)
Extravagant (para. 9) wear or display a distinctive item
F
ounded
(para. 11) essential
Priority (para. 11) a person who sets up a business, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit
Vegan (para. 12) the skin of an animal with the fur, wool, or hair still on it
Word Combinations
Please match the words on the left with those on the right to form correct word combinations.
s
ocial
symbol
marketing rights
(to) opt status
status for
(to) show director
animal off
C. Match the completed word combinations above with these meanings:
1. position in a social hierarchy
2. person in a company/firm responsible for advertising and brand promotion
3. To make a choice or decision
4. Something, such as a possession or an activity, by which one's social or economic prestige is measured
5. To display or behave in an way in order to attract attention
6. humane treatment claimed on behalf of animals, especially the right not to be exploited for human purposes
Soft Gold
Svetlana Kolchik, Russia Profile
www.russiaprofile.org
Today, the former leading producer of fur has become its top importer, as a fur coat is no longer a simple means to keep warm but a symbol of social status.
1. As the winter season nears, 29-year-old Muscovite Ekaterina Mukhina starts looking for a new fur coat, despite the fact that she already owns quite a few. “It’s practical and fashionable at the same time,” said Mukhina, who is the fashion director at the Russian edition of the Marie-Claire magazine. “I can’t imagine my wardrobe without a handful of fur coats. They are warm, comfortable and elegant.” Mukhina also said that as far as she can remember, all women in her family had always worn fur in winter, including her mum, grand- and great-grandmother.
2. And they are, of course, not alone. In a country with winter temperatures averaging from minus eight degrees Celsius in Saint Petersburg to minus 40 degrees Celsius in Eastern-Central Siberia, fur has been an indispensable means to keep warm for centuries. But in Russia, fur has never been treated as just warm clothing. “Fur is much more,” Mukhina said. “Wearing fur is almost like us, Russians, drinking hot tea with homemade jam. It’s a tradition. It’s almost part of our mentality.”
3. In a country that emerged as a major fur-trading nation in the 15th century, fur has since then also been a business, and an incredibly profitable one at that. It thrived along with the conquest of Siberia, peaking in the mid-17th century when it constituted up to about ten percent of the government’s budget, historical chronicles reveal. Kazan, Novgorod and later Moscow were the centers of the ancient fur trade, and back then, Russian fur was successfully marketed, among others, to Dutch and English merchants.
4. During the Soviet era, unlike other industries that were shut down by the communists, fur manufacturing, production and sale were kept up. For decades—up until the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s—the country remained one of the world’s top three fur exporters, producing an average of 15 million pelts each year, industry reports claim. It was only after the beginning of perestroika, when domestic fur production was no longer able to keep up with the challenges of a free market, that the economic picture shifted. Slowly but surely, the “fur empire” became the leading fur importer in the world (followed by China and the United States). It started buying pelts, fur coats, jackets, garments, buttons and accessories abroad—mainly from Italy, Greece, Canada, Hong Kong and China.
5. Still, industry watchers insist that even during hard times, demand for natural fur in Russia has always been alive and well. In the mid- to late-1990s, a “shuba-tour” (“fur coat-tour”) business boomed: many newly emerged, profit-savvy entrepreneurs travelled to fur factories in Greece to buy coats at wholesale prices and sell them back home for much more. And fur’s place in the Russian soul remained intact. A subway ride in Moscow in winter might remind one of attending a catwalk for winter haute couture collections—so many women sport trendy and expensive mink, fox, and sometimes even the celebrated and incredibly exclusive sable jackets and coats.
6. “Back in the early 1990s, Russian women would save on bread but still manage to get a fur coat for winter, even a modest one, made of pieces,” said Irina Beletskaya, the general director of “Ekaterina,” one of the oldest fur boutiques located in downtown Moscow. The store is part of a one-of-a-kind holding, also named “Ekaterina,” which sells natural fur items and accessories manufactured, designed and produced only in Russia. The company has stores in Moscow, Volgograd and Kiev. In Beletskaya’s store, which is the largest, there are as many as 700 models of coats made of 15 kinds of fur, including the famous Russian sable. The latter, the pelt produced exclusively in Russia and prohibited for export, can cost as much as $100,000 per coat. Even so, said Beletskaya, since the year 1997, when the boutique opened, there has never been a shortage of customers. The demand grows daily, and clients gradually become more sophisticated and educated when it comes to choosing a fur product.
7. “The time of shuba-tours is over,” Beletskaya said. “In fact, for Moscow women, today it’s normal to own five or six coats. They use them for various occasions and different types of weather.” She added that for the last decade, her company has been successfully catering to foreigners living in Moscow as well as Russian women living abroad. “The market is constantly expanding,” she said.
8. But while ten years ago, it was only the most affluent who could afford to purchase lush fur coats, today it has become a must-have item for the masses. As industry reports indicate, three out of four Russians wear a fur coat or jacket in winter, and women make up to 80 percent of the purchases. The more “elite” garments are sable and broadtail (karakultcha), the “middle-class” fur is mink and various breeds of foxes, and lower income customers usually opt for nutria, sheepskin and rabbit.
9. “Owning a fur coat always was, is, and will always be a must in Russia,” said Natalia Koroleva, an advertising manager for Fur-Expo, a company that for the past decade has organised bi-yearly four-day fur trade exhibitions in Moscow. Each exhibition, Koroleva explained, normally presents up to 60 large stands or little shops, displaying 150 models of fur coats each. So far, mink has been the most popular fur there. The cheapest, waist-length mink coat at the trade exhibition may cost as little as $1,500, while some more extravagant models go for much more. Even so, at least 40 percent of the visitors don’t leave without having bought something, Koroleva said.
“Each year, we see more and more young women at our events, and then again, recently, men have also started dropping in,” she said. The latter, she explained, often opt for mink coats as well as for other models made of sea animal fur, such as sea otters and seals.
10. Experts observe that the latest international fashion trend is to combine expensive furs with casual wear such as jeans. It’s no wonder that this trend is very well received in Russia, too. “Just look at what the top designers are offering, even such conservative brands as Dior,” said Elena Kabanova, the marketing director for Snezhnaya Koroleva (“Snow Queen”), Russia’s largest fur retailer. “Many current collections have either natural fur items or fur accessories. They sell really well.”
11. Founded in 1998 as a chain of multibrand clothing stores specializing in affordable fur and leather goods, Snezhnaya Koroleva now boasts 37 stores in 18 Russian cities. For this company, fur products have always been a priority—at some international fur auctions its purchasing share often reaches 20 percent. Each year, the company’s sales grow by a minimum of ten percent, and customers go coat-shopping all year round, even those who are not so wealthy. “A good friend of mine,” Kabanova said, “had to choose whether to buy a car or a new mink coat, and she opted for the latter. So she’ll keep using the subway but wear luxury mink. It’s very, very Russian.”
Beletskaya agrees: “A nice fur item will always be a status symbol, and Russians still love to show off,” she said. “It’s a demonstration that you are doing well, a ticket to a certain social and economic class. And, hey, what can really compete with the feel of nice warm fur on your shoulders? I personally don’t know of anyone who’d say ‘no’ to it. Perhaps, it’s a genetic thing.”
12. Experts also say that even though some brands have tried making faux-fur items, they have no market in Russia.
“So far, there has simply been no alternative to natural fur here,” said Kabanova. “People are incredibly loyal to it in Russia. Besides, the technology gets better each year, and the product becomes more competitive worldwide.” This loyalty to fur is so strong that even animal rights activists have so far been unable to influence anyone.
“Greenpeace has absolutely no voice in Russia,” said Natalia Paslavskaya, director of 2nd Fur Salon, one of the most exclusive fur boutiques in Russia that caters to the most sophisticated clientele, usually able to afford paying $250,000 for a signature fur coat and ordering a new one every year. “I’ve got a vegan friend, but when she came to our shop, she just said, ‘I want it’,” Paslavskaya said.
13. The future of the “soft gold,” as experts are used to calling fur in Russia, is nothing but radiant, even though the rest of the world might feel differently. Even global warming doesn’t seem to threaten the thriving industry. “If winters keep getting warmer, we’ll just switch to lighter versions of fur coats,” Paslavskaya said. “These are even more enjoyable to wear.”