How have sales fared in recent years?
“Fur sales continue their upward trend reflecting fur’s importance in today’s fashion,” explains Keith Kaplan, Executive Director of FICA. “In 1985, only 42 fashion designers were using fur in their ready to wear collections. Today there are more than 400 renowned fashion designers showing fur fashions, coats and fur-trimmed merchandise appealing to a broad cross section of consumers. Men and women of all ages are buying fur today and fur can be found in designer boutiques, specialty retailers, sporting goods stores, accessories shops and boutiques for men and women as well as at the more traditional fur salons and department stores.” As reported by Southwick Association, an independent research firm, retail sales of fur and fur trim continued to grow again in 2005, totaling $1.82 billion, an increase of 82% from 1991 when this research survey began.Recognizing that these figures reflect only the universe of traditional fur retailers we interview, sales increases are probably even more
“Fur sales continue their upward trend reflecting fur’s importance in today’s fashion,” explains Keith Kaplan, Executive Director of FICA. “In 1985, only 42 fashion designers were using fur in their ready to wear collections. Today there are more than 400 renowned fashion designers showing fur fashions, coats and fur-trimmed merchandise appealing to a broad cross section of consumers. Men and women of all ages are buying fur today and fur can be found in designer boutiques, specialty retailers, sporting goods stores, accessories shops and boutiques for men and women as well as at the more traditional fur salons and department stores.” As reported by Southwick Association, fur sales figure for 2003 were the highest reported since 1991 when the research survey began. In 2003, U.S. retailers reported fur sales of $1.8 billion, up 7.5% from 2002 and up 80% from 1991. Over 55% of purchases in 2003 were made by consumers under 44 years of age, with men now accounting for nearly 5% of all pur
