Designer Profile: Angela Brandys

Recent London College of Fashion graduate Angela Brandys is a very promising fur designer. Her collection features unusal combinations of colours, textures, and materials, and she demonstrated a very interesting and unique ways of incorporating fur into garments. Here are some photos of her collections, as well as a few quotes from her personal statement.

“This collection does not favor the superficial façade presented by the mass media dictatorship currently in play. It explores a more ‘real’ tension of new fabric, texture and color arrangements focusing on ones ability to create in a personal way without rule or order.”

“I am drawn to tactile, textured, cleverly colorful elements that I use as ingredients to design with. Tactile elements inspire me creatively. I try to capture these inspirations and find new ways to wear and become them.”

“I find all manner of bits and pieces, fabric, trims, details even other garments to take apart, whether from markets, frith stores, thrown away or given items, that I can piece together into designs. All the ingredients I beg, borrow and steal become the treatment for my designs and start to construct a collection. ”

Brand Feature: Adolfo Fernandez

Adolfo Fernandez is a Chilean fashion designer who fell in love with fur after a course at the Saga Furs Design Center in Copenhagen. There, he learnt about mink, fox and finnraccon, but upon his return to Chile, he chose to work exclusively with chinchilla. Chinchilla is native to Chile, and he has been able to forge relationships with people in the industry, to ensure the best breeds and excellent dressing. Another example of how fur can be green, when a designer works with raw materials that they source from their own country.

At the moment, his products are only available by private order (contact him through his Flickr page or by email, contacto@adolfofernandez.cl) but we are very much looking forward to seeing this new fur talent grow and expand his business.

Photos by Simon Pais-Thomas.

Brand Profile: Hockley

Hockley AW11: Left, grey wool parka with squirrel lining & fox trim. Right, golden aqua musquash & fox coat with detachable bolero.

During my trip to London for fashion week, I visited the Hockley store and showroom, a very old, traditional London furrier who launched their own label in 2007. Their creative director, Izzet Irs, showed me their beautiful autumn winter 2011 collection.

Hockley AW11: Left, reverisble navy mink coat with neoprene lining. Right, brown multi-colour mink coat wiht reflective inserts.

Irs explained to me that he wanted to design a brand, not a fur brand, and his intentions have been very well-received. Harrods, the famous London department store, sells Hockley in their womenswear department, not in their fur department.

Hockley AW11: Left, silver ash mink & fox layered on jersey coat. Right, silver ash punched mink & knit jacket.

For autumn winter 2011, Irs wanted to make a collection that was almost all reversible, which meant a lot of wool coats lined in fur and knit pieces that could be worn inside out. He worked with a lot of fox, chinchilla, rex rabbit, and mink, and kept the colour palette very neutral, featuring grey, silver, taupe, and navy, and the result is a very modern, beautiful, desirable outerwear collection.

Hockley AW11: Left, grey wool parka with squirrel lining and fox trim. Right, dusty grey knitted chinchilla & fox jacket.

Brand Feature: Venetian Decor

A vintage fur stool, from Venetian Decor.

Here’s a short interview with Pamela Beattie, the founder of Venetian Decor, a Canadian home accessories brand best known for its use of vintage fur.

Yasmine: How did you get started in this business?

Pamela: Fashion and decor were part of my history, my great aunts were seamstresses, and one had a boutique in Oakridge, and always loved french furniture and fur and vintage brooches. I wanted to make something different, and knew there were so many people who had old fur coats that were hidden somewhere in an attic. I also wanted to capture something that related to the heritage of our country.

Bolster pillows

Yasmine: What are your most popular items?

Pamela: I like to work with clients who have vintage fur pieces and design a piece that can be passed down. I recently met  a woman who inherited a dark mink coat and wanted to have a stool made for her daughter. I ordered the frame in (all our furniture frames come from Italy) If you have have any vintage brooches or jewelry, I can combine them into the stool. I finished the stool 3 days before Christmas, and when I delivered it, the woman nearly began to cry. That is what I am trying to capture and create for people, memories they can keep in their homes.

Yasmine: Do you work with new fur?

Pamela: The furs for the collection all come from Montreal and they are all vintage. They need to be high quality furs, which can’t be deteriorated, if not the products will not have a long life.

Yasmine: You do custom and you have a ready-made collection, which includes lots of chairs and stools and pillows, what else does Venetian Decor sell?

Pamela: I am working on a smaller boutique line, one key item will be eyemasks, with sheared beaver on the inside and Italian leather on the outside.

Yasmine: Do you make everything yourself, here in British Columbia?

Pamela: I have a few seamstresses, but it is a small business, so I like doing the hands on. I do most of the work myself.

Yasmine: What’s your background? Have you made furniture before Venetian Decor?

Pamela: I was taken under the wing of a professional upholsterers and worked with him for 2 years before starting Venetian Decor.

Venetian Decor does ship internationally, contact Pamela through their website.

Fur on the Catwalk: Michael Kors AW 11

Micheal Kors 30th anniversary show was a perfect example of what the Michael Kors label is all about: timeless, beautiful pieces with great styling. Long fur coats in classic cuts dominated the runway, and the neutral colours would look fantastic in any winter wardrobe.

Photos from Style.com.