As the cold weather settles in for another few months, I cuddle in my small country home on the Bay of Fundy. I put on my beaver house-boots and my wool sweater and thank Mother Nature for offering me all I need to keep us warm.

Living in a remote community on the Fundy shore, I am awed by the highest tides in the world. Surrounded by nature and silence, I bow to the sea which brings fish and clams to my table, and to the forests that supply firewood to keep my house cosy and wildlife to complement the seafood

My sewing skills make it possible to make clothing and accessories that will keep us comfortable.

Living in harmony with this environment, I relish a dream come true after fantasizing about it through all those years of living in some of the mega-cities of the world, a world surrounded by cement and pollution and so reinvented by humans that they can forget where they come from and who they are.

Real Meaning of Sustainability

I was introduced to fur design by professional furriers and artisans who put their skills at work to produce beautiful garments from a natural and renewable resource. Working in the Northern regions of our beautiful country, I’ve discovered the real meaning of sustainability of our natural resources.

I am thankful to the organizations who oversee good management and a respectful attitude toward our natural resources.

I am disappointed by negative and false information still spread by some organizations, sadly giving real environmentalism a bad name while imposing hardship on real people. At a time when “anti-bullying” and other forms of negative behavior are topics of public interest, we should wonder if this sentiment should perhaps apply here.

SEE ALSO: AMAZING FACTS ABOUT FUR: DRESSING FOR THE ARCTIC

Be Strong, Be Proud

While attending a recent event where I was able to display my creations, I was overwhelmed by the interest of people asking questions about the different furs in my booth, and reaching out to touch them. Often I heard the comment: “I am nervous about wearing furs ... someone might attack me on the street”.

I reply that they should be strong and be proud of wearing creations from the natural world. Every time I wear my fur coat, people come to me wanting to know what it’s made of and often comment on how beautiful it is.

Meanwhile, as I’m looking out the window at the ice moving with the tides, I am sewing and transforming a seal pelt from a vision into a beautiful garment.

One of America's most prestigious art schools, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), has launched its first program for fur designers. This is a significant confirmation of the importance of fur in fashion, and other schools are expected to follow SAIC's example.

The prestige attached to SAIC's endorsement of fur is huge. In a 2002 survey by the National Arts Journalism Program at Columbia University, SAIC was named the “most influential art school” in the United States.

In 2012, US News & World Report ranked SAIC the tied second-best graduate program for fine arts in the U.S., and in 2013, The Global Language Monitor ranked SAIC as the 5th best college in the U.S., the highest ever for an art or design school in a general college ranking.

SAIC's move can also be seen as recognition of fur's current prominence on the fashion scene.

Hailing as one of the biggest trends of the 2015 season, fur had a major presence this year on the runways at New York, London, Milan and Paris Fashion Week. Not only did fur dominate, appearing in over 70% of designer collections, but it also took over the streets as major bloggers and editors from all over the world showed off their fur street style.

Design students from all over the world are noticing and becoming more interested in using fur. It’s important that programs are in place for them to learn the material at their chosen school. With so many opportunities in the fur industry, students in these programs would learn to sew, design, and embrace what fur can do for their collections.

A Collaborative Effort

SAIC's decision to add the new fur program to its curriculum followed seven months of collaboration, and 15 students are already registered for its first class. Teaching them will be Liat Smestad, for many years lead designer for the Carol and Irwin Ware Fur Collection. The Wares were style-setters on Chicago's Magnificent Mile, introducing the city to such designers as Fendi, Dior and Zuki.

“Even today’s most in-demand designers had, at one point, never sewn a garment,” says Kathy Rezny of York Furs in Deer Park, Illinois, not far from Chicago. Rezny has been a huge driving force behind SAIC's decision to embrace fur design. “Those with a true passion for fashion worked their way up and now grace the runways of New York, Paris, Milan, and beyond. Every designer has a story, and York Furs is so excited to support local fashion students as they embark on their journey to create fashion forward designs.”

Materials for SAIC's new students are being sourced by Samantha Grala of New York-based ER Fur Trading Corp. ER Fur Trading provides production services in the US, China, Hong Kong, France, Israel and Italy, and also produces its own line of fur garments. Grala, meanwhile, is a member of Fur Futures, an international networking initiative set up to support the next generation of fur designers.

Also involved in the effort to expand options for would-be fur designers in the US is the Fur Information Council of America. Says Keith Kaplan, FICA's executive director, “We are presently in discussion with several other design schools and we hope to make similar announcements in the near future.”

Why is a fur coat expensive? Truth About Fur asked Zuki, renowned fur designer and manufacturer from Montreal, Canada:

"The price of a fur coat reflects many hours of skilled work required to produce it. Before designers like me ever see the pelts, there is the effort and knowledge of the trapper or fur farmer.

"Once the furs have been purchased at the auction and sent to the processors for 'dressing' and other special treatments, the pelts are individually matched for quality and coloration in the designer’s atelier. The pelts are then cut and 'blocked' (dampened, stretched and tacked on a 'blocking board') to fit the pattern.

"The sewing and finishing stages are done by experienced technicians using specialized skills that have been perfected over generations. Because furs are created by nature, no two pelts are exactly alike.

"The genius of furriers is their ability to create a homogenous fabric-like material, while skillfully using the natural character of the skins to enhance the design of each garment. The production of a beautiful fur coat may require 40-100 hours of skilled labor, or more."

More Questions About the Fur Trade?

Find the answers to all your questions about the North American fur trade at Truth About Fur, including:

• What types of fur are used in the fur trade?
• Is it morally wrong to raise animals just for their fur?
• What happens to the rest of a trapped animal when the fur is taken?
• Why is a fur coat expensive?
• How are farmed mink killed?
• How can we be sure that farmed mink are treated humanely in the United States?
• Why do we need foothold traps?
• How do we know only targeted animals are captured?
• Are the chemicals used for fur processing bad for the environment?
• ... and many more.

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