White and fluffy

More than 90 percent of fur goods are exported annually: how they are produced in the country

The cold is coming closer: natural fur coats, which have been successfully established in our country, help to survive the winter frosts. Recently, in accordance with a presidential decree, loans were allocated against the Government’s guarantees for the rehabilitation of fur farms. “The fur industry should not ask for budget money, but bring in a stable income,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said at a general meeting of representatives of the Belarusian Republican Union of Consumer Societies. Our reporter tried to understand how the natural fur market is developing in our country as a whole.

Pattern designer Svetlana Ivanova is developing sketches for future fur coats

A fur coat starts with an idea

At the moment, all conditions have been created in our country to make a product from natural fur from scratch: these are animal farms, design centres and highly qualified professionals. And if, for example, 15 million mink were destroyed in Denmark (soon after these ill-considered actions, the local authorities admitted that it was not worth getting rid of all the livestock and the decision on mass culling was wrong), the Belarusian industry is gaining momentum.
To see how the production of fur products is organised, we visited the GNL Design Centre of Belkoopvneshtorg at Belkoopsoyuz trade unitary enterprise, which employs 22 people. 
If the theatre begins with a hanger, then a fur coat begins with an idea: the design is being developed by the pattern designer, Svetlana Ivanova. Like a fairy magician, she uses pencils to transfer model ideas to paper.
“The artist works in two areas,” says the fashion designer. “Firstly, preparation for the season begins with updating and adjusting the classic style outerwear model. Secondly, within the walls of the GNL design centre, a new designer collection is annually developed, which meets the latest fashion trends. Such designer fur products are produced in limited quantities and are quickly sold out, because these things are exclusive and are produced in a single copy only.”
Other employees also join the creative process. Production manager, technologist, designers and pattern makers — the word of each specialist has its own weight. After the approval of the sketches, they go to the table for the designers, who create paper patterns for the future product. Then the patterns must be checked. And only then, on proven patterns, is a fur product made. Later, the artistic and technical council approves new models of outerwear for launching into mass production.
The design centre receives fully finished mink skins — ready for work. Their primary dressing is carried out at the enterprise in Molodechno, secondary — in Vitebsk or in Labinsk (Russia). Only after processing does the skin becomes soft, elastic and suitable for sewing outerwear.

Handmade in Belarusian style

Fur coming from animal farms is sorted. Thanks to their experienced gaze and knowledge, the technologist selects the most identical skins. And this is despite the fact that there are about ten natural colours of fur. But it is worth considering also shades and other selection criteria! 
 “This work is one hundred percent handmade, this production is not subject to any automation,” says Irina Kozyreva, who heads the production of goods from natural fur and leather. “It’s impossible to entrust this to a computer. Only a human can notice the smallest nuances.”
When the skins are checked and prepared, they begin the stretching process. The fur skins are moistened to soften the skin tissue, slightly straightened by hand and stretched with a special stapler gun onto the surface of the table to a given length. Such an operation enables the skins to be formed so that they fit well to the patterns and are suitable for cutting. Then follows the laying out according to patterns and cutting.
The tailor is engaged in the assembly of the main parts, and the fur dresser is engaged in adjustments: he cuts out the final common canvas according to the patterns. This blank from the furrier’s shop is transferred to the tailoring shop. The tailor receives a set of parts. In his hands, this ‘constructor kit’ takes on a finished look: it is assembled, sewn, lining and applied materials such as pockets are added to it. To give the product softness and elasticity, the cut of the finished product is placed in a specialised drum, thanks to which the skin becomes soft and elastic. Our fur diamond is ready!

Final QR chord

The final touch is the marking of the fur coat. Belarus became the first in the entire Eurasian space to introduce an electronic product passport. Hovering over the QR code on the tag, you can find out all the data about the fur coat: its manufacturer, photos of the product and all its characteristics. This enables us to fight the black market. This initialisation increases the cost of the product by only about $2. But the person understands that he has bought the original thing. The programme was developed jointly with the staff of the Academy of Sciences. 

Fur is a success

The process of making one fur coat involves about five people. It takes about a week for a mass-produced product while a month and a half is required for a tailor-made item. At the moment, the design centre produces about 40 items per month. The production manager admits that they could do more if there are more orders. Anyway, they don’t chase the quantity; after all, it is manual labour, which requires a reverent attitude and does not tolerate haste.
The design centre is engaged not only in sewing fur products. Its employees also develop fur technologies. For example, they figure out how to work with fur so that it takes on a different meaning.
“Fur can be put on an elastic band, embroidered with lace, sewn on fabric,” Svetlana Ivanova tells us. “We are developing, adopting world experience while improving. We use fur leftovers efficiently: we make accessories, key rings and talismans from them for the New Year. Thanks to this, the range of fur products has been expanded, some of which can be worn in autumn. There are also male designs with fur inside.”
The Belarusian production of sewing products from natural fur occupies a good position at the international level. Thus, fur products by Belarusian fashion designers from Belkoopsoyuz, presented at the most prestigious International Remix Competition, entered the top ten strongest in the world. Two years ago, Italian Vogue recognised the products of our manufacturer as one of the best. Our producer joined the top-10 winners, finishing fourth and leaving behind factories in countries such as the United States, Canada, Germany and France.

COMPETENTLY
Dmitry Bondich, First Deputy General Director of the Belkoopmekh unitary enterprise of Belkoopsoyuz:
By Sergei Grudnitsky
Photos by Vitaly Pivovarchik