The following articles are reproduced here with permission of Furs.com magazine. Visit Furs.com for more photos by Lisa Marcinek.
February 26: Next Fall's Best Looks
February 17: Pick Your Own
February 15: Here Comes the Fur!
February 14: Shearling Takes Over?
February 13: A Little Fur Goes A Long Way
February 12: Back to Reality?

Next Fall's Best Looks

By Lisa Marcinek

FEBRUARY 26: Watching ostentatious luxury take over the fashion world clearly left a few New York designers feeling queasy. The message for fall 2001 was more restrained, a little more sober and a lot more classic. Compared to spring 2001, colors are downright dour with black and chocolate brown taking over accented by spots of rosy fuchsia, moss and neutral gray. There was a lot of talk about reality dressing, perhaps signaling that designers want to sell clothes again and not just costume the music industry. And seemingly en masse, designers returned to their roots, showcasing the styles that made them famous. Ralph was Ralph; Michael was Michael; Donna was Donna, and Puffy -- no matter how much PeTA screamed -- was Puffy.

What this meant for fur-lovers was a lot. This was a watershed season of sorts. I know I always say that, but this season easily could have meant the end of the designer fur craze. We all know how fast fashion moves, and fur could have been left behind. After all, the pendulum is swinging toward the demure, perhaps prompted by the U.S. economy but perhaps just inevitably. Fur could have become irrelevant, but it didn't. It became integrated into the designers' signature looks. Donna Karan's furs were black and flat and sleek and urban, just like the rest of her collection. Oscar de la Renta's furs were elegant and sumptuous and a bit poufy, just like Oscar himself. Michael Kors made his shearling furs and fur scarves and trims sporty and carefree to fit with his equestrian theme. And the myriad of other designers, not so well-known perhaps but considerably less commercial and more creative, made fur their own in ways that were crazy, spicy, romantic and sexy.

Even the New York Times seemed surprised to announce, "Fur seems to be here to stay."

Therefore, perhaps it's not trying that hard this year. Like everything else in fashion, it is finally interpreted into as many different visions as their are personalities. You can pick a fur for fall 2001 the way you pick any other item of clothing to match your mood and occasion. After all, Puffy's Sean John collection gave men floor-sweeping black fox scarves; Kors gave women the restrained sable-collared, old-money look; Manuel Fernandez offered the Spanish baroque romance, and Anna Sui will be keeping hippies in the luxury to which they've become accustomed.

Classic glamour girls can take their pick from Carolina Herrera's mink portrait collar midriff evening top, Halston's easy fox-trimmed knits, Chanpaul's pastel fox bolero and Zang Toi's fox-trimmed ball gown.

If you want a little more sparkle in your fur, designers were happy to oblige. Mark Montano splashed his black fox stole (with head and tail attached, by the way) with gold metallic paint; David Goodman wove Swarovski crystals into a port-dyed fox stole; Angel Sanchez put fringes of big paillette sequins in his black and white mink; and Christina Perrin's black and white fur coat had caged crystals.

As for the fur trends, look for more lynx in stores this year along with more shearling-treated lamb, mink and even sable. If these two furs don't create trend confusion, I don't know what will. Lynx has been shunned for years for looking too wild or furry or perhaps even dangerous, but it took the runways by storm for 2001. By comparison, turning every kind of fur into shearling smacks a bit of wearing your fur on the inside of your coat, the way you did to keep it private in the early 1990s. All of us who don't like to tote a 20-pound fur all day applaud the technology that has allowed fur tanners to make fur reversible without a lining and therefore as comfortable, lightweight, informal and unstructured as a sweater. Helen Yarmak's sables done this way are the newest. From other designers, they still look a bit untested , a new fabric yet conquered. Look for this to be the most important trend to hit fur fashion in the next decade, though.

Stay tuned for the Milan and Paris fall 2001 shows for more fur trends, plus more photos from New York City.

Pick Your Own

By Lisa Marcinek

FEBRUARY 17: New York Fashion Week wound down with a sampling of furs that ran the gamut from conservative to frivolous, sporty to glam. Most designers found a fur to fit their customers´ lifestyles, however unique. That means, when it comes time to shop for fall 2001, most fur-lovers will easily find something to work in their wardrobes. Except in the case of designers who do only fur-trimmed fabric garments, most of the furs shown could easily be extricated from the designers' own vision and fit yours.

On the lighthearted side, Chanpaul offered a tiny fox bolero chubby dyed pale blue, plus the same shaped fox in tie-dyed shades of black, navy and burgundy for the moody girl. Peter Som sent out two sheared mink scarves that wrapped around the arms securely in sleeves, one in natural dark brown and the other in camel color. Anna Sui's hippie shearlings were snappy and sophisticated and included a burgundy/fuchsia coat, a black napa/white fur coat and even a black/white skirt, jacket and matching aviator hat. Bob Mackie showed his trademark glamour on the runway for the first time in a few years, accenting some of his major diva looks with a black fox muff, plus a black fox scarf and hat on a gray suit. Coogi Australia, known for its knitwear, added major, fluffy shearling coats this season plus faux furs in pale shades of gray and cream.

I'd like to tell you about the always-sumptuous Zang Toi fashions, but it wouldn't really be fair. Anybody who was there (except the smashed-in photographers, maybe) would be lying, if they said they could see the clothes properly. Toi decided to premiere in his newly expanded showroom, which was not nearly expanded enough to support the crowd invited. As I bounded around the two-floor space trying to find a good view, I found that some of Toi's best customers were standing - so you can imagine how us peon journalists were treated. But even the front seats were no prize. People sitting there had the models practically in their laps - great for viewing fabric but not silhouette. I ended up in a fire exit with a half-dozen other people, standing on a crate, which gave me a perfect view of the firemen trying to rescue show attendees trapped in a broken elevator. Hopefully Toi will return to the tents next season.

Michael Kors, always the expert on all-American sportswear, went horsy for fall. When you look past all the equestrian accoutrements like plaid blanket shawls, jodhpurs, riding boots and the newly minted Wellie bag, Kors's furs were simple, straightforward and utilitarian. He must have sent out scarves a dozen times, most often in sable, then red and silver fox for both him and her. Every other fabric coat got a fur shawl collar. A natural brown mink shearling hooded coat shown leather-out looks as versatile as any black trench coat. Undoubtedly the key fur from this collection - and perhaps the key look of any material - was the first mink shearling coat done in white from the waist up and in horizontal stripes of red, black, yellow and kelly green from the waist down.

Russian designer Helen Yarmak showed her new collection by appointment, still giddy from celebrating Kate Hudson's wedding (Yarmak designed a white fox vest worn by Hudson at her bridal shower) with the bride and her mother, Goldie Hawn. Forget mink shearling: Yarmak specializes in out-of-this-world Russian broadtail and Russian sable shearling. What the heck is that? Just like mink shearling, its leather side has been treated with napa or suede so it can be worn reversed, without a liner.

And you thought sable was light-as-a-feather already! Some of the broadtail shearlings, done in skirted suits, had very light-handed paisley patterns printed on their leather sides with perforations forming lace effects. Exquisite!

Angel Sanchez offered some spice to this week's rather bland fur fashion soup. Though Sex & the City's Cynthia Nixon was in the audience wearing his shocking orange sheared mink shirt from fall 2000, just to remind us that Sanchez had sworn off colorful fur this year, his were still the edgiest furs on the runways. First, shown over a black cashmere sweater and pleated pants was a black mink halter with layers of huge sequins. Next, a sleekly fitted, black mink jacket with fox collar fox-detailed yoke was a little bit dandy, a little bit Joan Jett.

A black leather vest with stripes of black mink was shown over a white shirt and pleated pants for a somewhat naughty uptown girl. A stunning white mink jacket also was detailed with giant sequins. Clean but punchy - wait till you see the photos next week. And speaking of great photo ops, Elizabeth Hurley showed up (wearing what looked like a black, velvet-sheared mink fitted coat) with comedian Dennis Leary to add even more excitement to the show, as if it were necessary.

Here Comes the Fur!

By Lisa Marcinek

FEBRUARY 15: Finally, Tuesday was a major fur day at 7th on Sixth, now known as Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week. I've been avoiding the obvious free advertising plug, but hey, it's not like Fashion Week is being sponsored by the Gap. Luxury still reigns.

Craig Natiello's Halston collection kicked off the day with casual, offhanded luxury in what he calls "lifestyle" fashions. This translated into stunningly chic but understated fox and knit combinations and mink shearling, the ultimate reality dressing, since that seems so important this season. A set of mink shearling styles included a navy vest, a chocolate brown, easy-flowing coat and a pink fitted jacket. Golden sable was another important theme, done as a big collar on a camel colored suit and -- more of this week's asymmetry -- as a single cuff on a one-sleeved beaded shirt.

Dramatic fox collars were still the rage at Halston and looked great in camel on a cable knit cardigan and in bright red on a coat. Images of the original designer sprung to mind in a series of long, black matte jersey evening gowns with big, extra-long black fox cuffs.

Oscar de la Renta showed an especially brilliant mix of opulent, lady-like sexiness with glamour and rich detail. He used fur distinctively but not obviously, more as a fabric serving the blend of his other textures and details. Fox circle collars framed the face but were feathered for spikiness and extra volume. The first was best in silver fox on a black-and-white tweed coatdress. A spiky black collar was paired with a black knit coat, and a creamy white cable cardigan coat got a spiky white collar that was so voluminous, it was the ultimate face-framer (recognizing a trend with the fur and knit combinations?). A stunning magenta-and-black spiky fox collar topped a magenta plaid coat.

Oscar was on the longhaired shearling bandwagon, showing a flowing coat with black leather and white fur. A black-on-black shearing was treated with an embroidered tuxedo with the embroidery shown on the fur side like an upscale hippie coat.

Oscar's third fur theme was sable, of course. But this wasn't traditional sable. Oscar was audacious with sable, using textured sable plate for a little jacket trimmed in velvet brocade (the inverse of the typical, sable-trimmed velvet jacket) and -- though not new -- for a long vest shown over brocade velvet. The most fun were tiny fringes of sable around the collar, cuffs, hem and down the tuxedo of a shaped evening jacket and at the hem of a camisole.

Christina Perrin closed the day with a look at luxury that was less edgy, more mature and textural than her past collections. Goddess gowns heavy with crystals, beading, chiffon and liquid lame, often shown with slight trains or fishtail hems, portrayed little of Perrin's rock-star sensibility and more classic Hollywood glamour. Translated for dressy day (or informal evening, depending on the occasion), that meant separates in the same fabrics and treatments paired with fox scarves and handbags (Perrin has a new collection of fox handbags this season designed by Murjani for Malini M.).

Perrin still had some drop-dead sexy furs. Her diamond-pieced, floor-sweeping fur with crystals was all the more important, since it was shown first. An emerald green pieced mink coat with slashes of teal was offbeat and fun, but the finale ruby fox cape was so over-the-top, it could only belong on a Hollywood red carpet. My favorites were the little belted jackets in either cognac shearling or gold cross fox.

Shearling Takes Over?

By Lisa Marcinek

FEBRUARY 14: Yesterday's New York Fashion Week fun - and fur - was mostly off the runway, as big gun designers seemed to take a conservative turn. Talk of reality or real-life fashion meant classics, more history sampling and a more subdued color palette than seasons past. Also, it seemed to make shearling the fur of choice for two key, high-profile players. Could it be designers are already reflecting the U.S. economic dip by using less expensive materials?

Marc Jacobs, who once upon a time designed an entire fur collection for Bloomingdale's, yesterday only showed one fur, a knee-length, fluffy long-haired black shearling coat with a nipped-in waist. Even that looked a little flamboyant compared to the rest of his collection, which was schoolgirl demure. Shades of black and gray contrasted with cream I little, hip-length tailored jackets over flared knee-length skirts. Sailor-girl stripes and maryjanes were girlish and seemed to sample the 1950s as well as 19-teens.

By contrast, Jacobs's audience was the most flamboyant yet, with photographers lined up outside to catch celebrity entrances from Donald Trump, Hilary Swank and husband Chad Lowe, Tori Spelling, Molly Shannon and Gina Gershon. Gershon wore a dyed rabbit coat, a bit underwhelming, while Anna Wintour as always was best dressed in an impeccable gray broadtail lamb fitted coat. Perhaps Swank and Lowe only brought their L.A. wardrobes, because they posed at the chilly Armory wearing no outerwear at all: she was in a little sweater and he in a suit jacket.

Jennifer Love Hewitt and Tori Spelling took in the Badgley Mischka show, which was decidedly lacking in punch. Here, last Fall's gorgeous furs gave way to a handful of monastic velvet-flat, draping shearling jackets and coats in black and chocolate brown.

Thankfully, fur came out in force at Carolina Herrera with - wow - seven looks. Herrera's rich, classic and predictable collection was given some shots of drama with her furs: a dark mink bustier; a belted, sleeveless chinchilla top with a deep V-cut back; a dark sheared mink portrait collar skimming across the bust showing bare shoulders and midriff; a long, straight chinchilla stole wrapped across the front of the model and belted like a shirt; a natural brown mink bomber jacket and a FABulous lynx hooded knee-length belted coat. Chaiken, a more eclectic collection by Jeff Mahshie, also picked up on the shearling. Among them there was a longhaired, frosted brown jacket and stole. But there was also a fox chubby in a melange of raspberry shades and pelts.

Rabbit was another popular fur, used at Yigal Azrouel in natural gray tones for vests and a men's stole and also dyed black for slinky women's stoles. At Girls Rule!, rabbit vests made the teen scene.

A Little Fur Goes A Long Way

By Lisa Marcinek

FEBRUARY 13: Sunday's furs were somehow appropriate to the day they were shown: light-hearted, whimsical and fun. Designers Manuel Fernandez, Mark Montano and Liz Collins blended strategically placed fur into their looks in a way that was the antithesis of traditional furrier collections. Here, furs served the mood, not set it.

Spanish designer MANUEL FERNANDEZ blended rich colors, textures and layered silhouettes in a way that was distinctly baroque Latin. A fluffy beige wool angora knit set was topped with a flounced neckline together with a paisley wool-silk poncho to start the show and set the tone. Fernandez used the slightest touch of mink on the waistband of a short, flared skirt in checkerboard boucle topped with a silk shirt with beige angora wool sleeves with ivory shawl.

Low-key but sumptuous shearling and curly lamb played a big part in the Fernandez collection, layered among the other textures as stoles, shirts, long coats and even long gloves. Knitted and twisted, blue-dyed Saga fox added oomph to a demure blue and white angora V-neck dress.

Then Fernandez's flamenco dancers appeared in bright white or yellow silk dresses with embroidery and a feather fan or an almost comical set of oversized earmuffs and matching bag done in two shades of red fox. He used red, green or yellow-dyed fox for dramatic stoles and collars, but my favorite was a fox hood with fox ties hanging from the front and a matching fur-topped walking stick.

Hip dowtown designer MARK MONTANO used a lot less fur in his collection than he did last year, probably because he currently is without a fur license agreement. Still, what there was added lots of extra attitude. And this was a collection that just wouldn't have been the same without fox face-framers. Montano's theme was Gangster Girls. Perhaps the popularity of a certain award-winning HBO tv show has made it acceptable for models to carry guns on the runway again, even if they're bejeweled and obviously fake. Meticulously tailored suits had a 1940s flair, but Montano's giddy fabrics (black and fuchsia satteen stripes, fuchsia plaid wool and even a Bullet Hole dress with holes "actually shot at the range") made everything current and crazy -- typically Montano.

Fur stand-outs by Montano were little fox jackets striped with red leather and fox boas shot through (pun intended) with gold-treated leather strips for sparkle.

LIZ COLLINS used skinny stripes of fur for an offbeat decorative effect on little halter tops, shirts and ponchos. Reflecting the theme of her shingled-effect folded leathers, these narrow bands of what looked like long-haired, tuscana frosted shearling blended brown and gray tones and added texture to her neutral palette of brown, beige, gray and red. These were urban clothes for young chicks who otherwise wouldn't necessarily wear fur.

Back to Reality?

By Lisa Marcinek

FEBRUARY 12: New York Fashion Week is now off and running. Men's wear began Thursday, February 8 (with a few women's shows thrown in off the beaten path) and culminated Saturday night, February 10 with the Sean John spectacular. Yesterday women took back the spotlight with shows from an eclectic group of boutique designers who might not be household names but spark fierce loyalty among followers of their individualist interpretation of fashion.

While editors and the rest of the fashion crowd are already touting a return to a bit of wearable -- read not extreme -- dressing, the good news for fur lovers is that fur is still a major part of the picture for Fall 2001. This time around, though, it represents a slight shift in the luxe look. 'To each his own' seems to be a motto, but a slightly more ladylike luxury is afoot, one that's not boring but less formal, more comfortable, maybe more 'old money.'

But not from FAUSTO PUGLISI. This Sicilian newcomer took over a "gentlemen's club" for his first New York show. The Wonder Woman-esque hot pink invitations featuring an image of Pamela Anderson (yes, she of Baywatch fame who's a major PeTA follower) wearing nothing but strategically placed rhinestones, carrying a rhinestone-studded pitchfork and surrounded by day-glo blue stars was a major tip-off to Puglisi's style.

Puglisi's models took the stage wearing little more than rhinestones, spandex and lots of fur. And did they work it! This show wasn't for the demure. Models doubled as dancers, bumping and grinding and spinning on the de rigeur silver poles. The style was major '80s flash-and-trash, but the furs were intriguing.

Puglisi used pelts like a newcomer, eschewing regular furrier rules. My favorite was what appeared to be a fur flapper skirt, consisting of a rhinestone belt hung with nearly whole, white mink pelts (no heads or feet) with the tails dangling. Unattached to each other, the pelts moved like fringe. There were more typical pieces, like a silver fox stole and a navy mink short jacket with burgundy fox sleeves and, surprisingly, a rather conservative brown mink coat. But Puglisi carried his asymmetric theme (pants with only one leg, skirts that cut way above the hip on one side) into the furs. One fitted mink jacket had a huge fox collar on one side only. The opposite side had a fox half-sleeve from the shoulder to elbow. The side of the jacket with the fox collar also had a fox cuff. It was brilliant, but you'll have to see the pictures later.

DAVID GOODMAN brought his Buonuomo women's fur and cashmere collection to Fashion Week for the first time ever. He usually shows later, during Fur Week, but he decided it was time to play with the big boys of fashion. And he was more than prepared. The jaded crowd just beamed, thrilled to see Goodman bring his collection from its previous level of fur-trimmed cashmere knit separates into the realm of fully developed fashion.

Yummy color is the first thing that comes to mind in the Buonuomo collection. Of course wearable olive, plum, pumpkin and black-and-white are staples, but this year Goodman was inspired by Caribbean shades of pink, Mediterranean blue, teal, lapis, poppy and lapis. The best uses of color are not-so-subtle combinations, especially in mosaics. Goodman cuts fur of different shades and sews it together into ladylike patterns that none-the-less borrow from the jazz age as well as places that serve drinks with umbrellas. Brilliantly, he used this fur-cutting technique and carried it into cashmere as well for downright giddy combinations.

Goodman offered more variety of shapes this season, too. This isn't the easies thing to do with sweater dressing, but he accomplished it with more structured blazers, pinstripes, high, side-slit dresses, keyhole necklines and even kick-pleated skirts. For an extra dash of sparkle, Goodman found a way to weaver Swarovski crystals into fur so they shimmer on top. Ooh la la!

Sean "Puffy" Combs's SEAN JOHN collection is perhaps the only major one to decorate men with fur. He didn't disappoint for Fall 2001, offering men a real selection of fur from which to choose their own style, from sporty to ostentatious. I don't know how many men are interested in wearing a 14-foot-long black fox stole complete with tails hanging on each side, but it was fabulous to see male models walk on stage with the stoles draped straight across their shoulders, hanging side to side and scraping the floor with each step. For a less, ahem, formal look, Sean John offered men a nearly classic gray Swakara trench coat.

The first look on the runway, though, left the most lasting impression. The ferocious, spotted beige and cream look of lynx pelts strung around the very first model's neck like an oversized collar was primitive, sexy and totally unwearable. But it sent a clear message -- Revolution, the show's theme. Next up was a more practical lynx coat topped with a tan leather trench. The wild animal was slightly more tamed in this version.

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