Thoughts on fur business

[tati121]

Before I start - I know this is a pelt neutral forum so if I happen to break any rules, mods please delete this thread if need be. Thanks!

By fur business I don't mean the fur industry, I'm referring to a recycled fur business I'm currently involved in the start up of.

My boss is a fashion designer and we're in the midst of starting a business which uses used furs and re-purposes them into completely new items. We buy used furs from thrift stores, vintage stores, and we also take donations. Gloves, mittens, leg warmers, capelets, clutches, bags, and shoe add-ons are some of the items we will be making out of the many unwanted furs that are destined to go to the land fills. Our goal is to make fashionable, sustainable, and attainable pieces. We also strive for our product to reach a new demographic - those who want the luxury of fur but don't have the means for pricey new fur and even those who were never really on board with fur (this is the case with me) but can see how this sustainable version might be a better choice than going to a boutique and buying a brand new product.

Since we are just starting, any and all input is greatly appreciated!!

What are your thoughts on the idea of recycled fur? Do the items listed above appeal to you? Do you think you would be interested in purchasing some pieces for yourself or friends? What fabric combinations would interest you (we're currently sketching with cashmere, merino wool, suede, and leather in mind)?

Once we have our website set up, we will be implementing a points system for those who wish to donate unwanted furs to us. Each donated item will be assigned a certain amount of points depending on the quality, animal, and size of the piece; each of our items for sale will also be assigned a number . Those who have accumulated points through donations will be able to purchase items with said points. For example: if you donate a coat that is worth 100 points, you will be able to buy 100 points worth of goods from us.

^^Thoughts on this points system??

Please feel free to leave any comments, ideas, suggestions, and thoughts!

Thanks everyone!

 

[ticklechin]

Fur is fur no matter where it came from IMO, I like it on its original owner and would not buy repurposed fur items.

 

[Riven]

I think that you'll get a lot of people who have the same opinion as Dawn.

I don't know that a lot of people who would not normally buy fur because it's fur will change their minds. The main target would be people who don't mind fur, but like the recycling aspect of it.

 

[Laurie]

I am not an advocate of wearing fur, so it wouldn't matter to me if it was new or refurbished. My mom got a fur coat from goodwill for dirt cheap and it's in great shape. So I suppose if you are someone not opposed to wearing fur it doesn't matter if it's new or redone--just that it looks great.

 

[smhufflepuff]

I very much like the idea of recycling and repurposing items. Provided there's a market for your repurposed fur items and you can access that market, it should work out as well as any other business venture.

As for me, I'm not really into fur. Always struck me as something for folks who put on airs (which I find annoying at best) or people who live and work in such an environment where it makes sense to use the materials around you to fashion what you need (which I find resourceful and for which I have plenty of respect). Yah, that was probably an open-mouth, insert-foot statement. I realize it may not be accurate, it's just my gut reaction and drives me away from furs. Plus, I don't think you're supposed to toss your furs into the washer and dryer when they get dirty.

Your points system... totally going to depend on your clientele. Warning: going to go into sweeping generalizations here...
--> If you have a bunch of people who just want to be rid of their old fur or want to feel like they're helping the environment by giving it to you rather than trashing it, then an all out "save the earth" promotion commensurate with the "you're such a good person" accolade is all they'll want/need... not to get caught in a points system. And how many people are going to be able to hand over fur after fur after fur to accumulate a sufficient amount of points to get something good?
--> On the other hand, picturing the cool enviro-friendly young adult hipster... if that's your client base, then, yeah. You could run the shop like a co-op. Get points for recycling/repurposing, for manning the shop, etc... And I think they might be all over that.

 

[Megan]

I think it would be a good idea. Better then the fur going to waste, IMO.

 

[3CsMommy]

I don't wear fur or leather, and I use very few animal products in general. Luckily, I live in a rural area where greener options for eggs and range-fed meats are available. But when it comes to fur and leather, I don't care if its re-purposed or not; I won't buy it.

That said, I'd rather see repurposed fur for sale than only new garments on the market. (The exception I make for this is nutria, which are a nuisance in most of the areas where they've been introduced in the U.S. and cause millions of dollars in environmental damage in the U.S. south. If they're going to be killed anyway, which they are to the tally of 400,000+/year, at least make as much use of the remains as you can. Not sure if anything eats nutria, but I know nutria fur is appearing in runway shows by people like Michael Corrs. We waste so much as a culture here in the U.S. I don't want to encourage more of it.)

 

[starleomach]

I see no problems with recycling fur

 

[charlie]

I too would think a selling feature would be that new fur items are not as likely be created. Even though I don't go near fur - this would encourage me to point my fur wearing friends to a better option.

 

[Annieo]

Personally, if I could afford a good repurposed fur and could use it (I live in San Diego so it's bit too warm here) I would buy/recommend it. I don't condone "new" fur but I don't understand why repurposed fur can't find a market.

That said, unfortunately, fur still has a stigma attached (regardless of its origin) and you might have a hard time making a profit at it.

I recently tried to sell two of my mother's vintage furs, one a full length Blackglama mink, the other a lamb coat and most didn't want to spend more than $200 for each, despite the original cost of 10k+ in 1976. Perfect condition, etc. I found that odd because many people would gladly spend $200 for a leather or faux fur coat.

You might be better off targeting the foreign market which still wears and supports fur.

Check out ebay, Etsy and others on "advanced search" and see what furs actually sold for. You'll find that the ones that did sell were for very, very, little...when they sold..which most don't. I chose not to sell my mother's furs. I'd rather figure out how to repurpose them on my own rather than sell a full length quality mink for $200.

 

[threewingedfury]

I think that it's a neat idea to reuse the furs instead of just tossing it. I've seen a lot of chinchilla bears on etsy that are made of repurposed fur from coats. As far as other furs, I'm not very familiar with them. Personally, I probably wouldn't buy a prepurposed item unless it were very nice, though a lot of people may like the idea of recycling, so it may sell. I'd be more willing to buy a new fur item than one prepurposed, but we won't get into that.

 

[cuddlycuddles]

While the proposed fur items do not appeal to me personally (here I'd echo Dawn's sentiment), here are some thoughts on the business generally:

You should emphasize the recycling aspect of your products. Try re-purposing other fabrics too that will be combined with the fur.

I don't think the points system is an effective way to build your client base (think of multiple purchases over the years)- I would target a more general clientele.

I think the target market is very specific and it may be difficult to reach enough buyers locally. Perhaps Etsy would be a good place for reaching international clientele with your products.

Good luck!

 

[tati121]

--> If you have a bunch of people who just want to be rid of their old fur or want to feel like they're helping the environment by giving it to you rather than trashing it, then an all out "save the earth" promotion commensurate with the "you're such a good person" accolade is all they'll want/need... not to get caught in a points system. And how many people are going to be able to hand over fur after fur after fur to accumulate a sufficient amount of points to get something good?
--> On the other hand, picturing the cool enviro-friendly young adult hipster... if that's your client base, then, yeah. You could run the shop like a co-op. Get points for recycling/repurposing, for manning the shop, etc... And I think they might be all over that.

Regarding the points system, we will be giving different amounts of points based on the piece of fur donated. If someone donates a knee length mink coat then we'll probably give them somewhere around ~200 points - with that amount of points one would be able to buy, say a bag and some gloves or a hat. We want to give enough points to allow the donater to buy some of our goods.

And regarding the young adult hipster - that's one main demographic we're targeting. It may seem like a niche market (and I acknowledge that it is) but we will be selling in NYC in places like SoHo, East Village, West Village - these places are dripping with hipsters! And tourists

I too would think a selling feature would be that new fur items are not as likely be created. Even though I don't go near fur - this would encourage me to point my fur wearing friends to a better option.

In addition to our goods, we will be distributing pamphlets about our business discussing our main points of sustainability. We want to show the consumer that these goods are not only fashionable (by displaying a fashion board of all the last, current, and next season's fur inspirations) and by discussing our goal of repurposing furs and how that may (doubtful) affect the current fur industry by pointing people to our renewable fashion.

That said, unfortunately, fur still has a stigma attached (regardless of its origin) and you might have a hard time making a profit at it.

Unfortunately, no matter what we do the stigma will always be a part of the fur industry. One of our ideas is to create our label and incorporate the reduse, reuse, recycle sign: http://meta4.com.au/user/files/General%20Images/reduce-reuse-recycle.png into our label (by means of a beautiful embroidery) in order to keep the idea of our sustainable piece in the consumer's mind.

Personally, I probably wouldn't buy a prepurposed item unless it were very nice, though a lot of people may like the idea of recycling, so it may sell. I'd be more willing to buy a new fur item than one prepurposed, but we won't get into that.

I understand the reservations that some people may have regarding buying used fur but be assured that everything would be completely and fully cleaned (via environmentally friendly methods) in order to ensure complete and utter cleanliness of our product. My fashion designer boss has been in the industry for 20+ years and has had shows in all of the major fashion cities: NYC, Paris, Milan. We are also working with people who have decades and decades of fur experience which will ensure our product to be of the utmost quality. As we will be making each product by hand, it will have our undivided attention to detail and integrity - we as a business aren't just looking to make money, we genuinely believe in our cause and we would never compromise the quality of our goods for a few bucks. Perhaps once we have our website, our products will change your mind about re-purposed fur :wink2:

You should emphasize the recycling aspect of your products. Try re-purposing other fabrics too that will be combined with the fur.

That is exactly what we are doing! We bought dozens and dozens of cashmere and merino wool sweaters from our local goodwill and salvation army and will be using them in our products!

I don't think the points system is an effective way to build your client base (think of multiple purchases over the years)- I would target a more general clientele.

Since the website will be coming after we start selling our product, it will be used more as a means of incentive rather than a way to build our client base.



I want to thank everyone so so much for all of their input! Hopefully I have answered/clarified some points and please feel free to keep commenting and offering suggestions!

 

[SusieJJ]

I recently purchased a "vintage" mink stole from etsy. I wanted a fur stole and had a fake one, but I really wanted a real one. I got to thinking about it and decided that getting a vintage one would be a better choice for me as I didn't want to spend the money on a brand new one, and I also considered it "recycling". I think what pushed me to get the vintage one (from 1950s) was the fact that the mink stole already existed and nothing was killed for me specifically to buy that item. I absolutely love it, and I'm really glad I got the vintage one over a new one

If the prices were reasonable I would definitely buy something from your new store. My vintage stole was $80 versus $400-$500 new. If I could get an item from your store that was 70% less than the buying new price I absolutely would. 50% off new I'd consider, because the items still have to be disassembled and reassembled and whatnot - plus the whole running a business cost.. But if I were to pay more than 50% of the cost of a new item, I'd have second thoughts. That would depend largely on the quality!

Good luck. I hope it works out, I'd love to go to a store like that!!

 

[ticklechin]

I had bad dreams as a child about my Grandma's mink stole, the face and eyes freaked me out and to increase the panic my Uncle put it on my pillow as a joke.

 

[SusieJJ]

I had bad dreams as a child about my Grandma's mink stole, the face and eyes freaked me out and to increase the panic my Uncle put it on my pillow as a joke.

aw that's sad I got one without the head and feet.. the other type - which is just the fur and it looks like a little jacket.
I got to wanting one cause I was thinking about MY grandmother's mink stole, the head and feet type. My cousin took it when she passed, and I always wanted one So I decided to look them up - the ones with the heads and feet are even less expensive than the type I got! I'm glad to have mine now And I still love that it's vintage