The International Fur Federation’s support of the fur trade spreads far, wide and deep. This is why we were able to support long-standing members of the Greek Fur Federation, Imperia Furs & Leather with their latest fashion show. This is Christina Demertsidou’s story…
First of all, I would like to thank the International Fur Federation (IFF) for such a great opportunity. Over the years, I have been reading about the various Fur Futures success stories so it’s a great pleasure to be accepted for the IFF Fur Futures bursary and become one.
Imperia Furs & Leather (https://imperia-furs.com/) is“An Extravaganza of Luxury and Absolute Perfection!”– An international award-winning fashion brand, a family business and I am proud to be a part of it. Job titles don’t matter in our company as we are a big Greek family who are passionate about what we do. We work with both wholesale and retail clients. Our central showroom is open in a 4-storey facility located in Paralia Katerinis making it the biggest showroom in town as it features around 2000 innovative designs, which are renewed on a regular basis. Paralia Katerinis is The Official Fur District of Greece and for those that love fur, the best souvenir from Greece is a fur coat by Imperia Furs & Leather. With emphasis on Greek fur manufacturing tradition dating back to the 14th century, and the importance of continuous innovation, all our fur garments are produced in Kastoria. In addition, we also provide a ‘double guarantee’ to our customers by supplying pelts to top quality labels such as Blackglama, NAFA, Saga, Kopenhagen Fur, and Sojuzpushnina.
I am a Royal Holloway, University of London MA Marketing graduate, graduating with a distinction, and a University of Portsmouth, BA (Hons) Business Administration graduate. During my university years, I lived in the UK for 5-years, returning home in 2010. Since then, almost every year I meet random people that ask me the same question: “Why did you return back to Greece?” Well, my answer is crystal clear: “I have a family business to run and I love my job”.
While some see very few young people in the fur trade, we are actually involved in it, I believe that there is future and I fight for it. Our family is supporting the fur industry by all means possible. Most recently, in April of last year and in April of this year, we donated catwalk garments that were auctioned by FICA (Fur Information Council of America) and the money were used to support them as they continue to battle the fur trade ban in the U.S.
Since 2015, we have been exhibiting at ILOE (International Luxury Outerwear Exposition) in Chicago and in the past three years we have been participating at ILOE GLO, a fashion show that is an opportunity to attract more wholesale clients. The U.S. market is a relatively new market for our company and what we enjoy the most is the fact that we are bring European fashion to the U.S. While at first, some clients were skeptical, they have now become more familiar with the contemporary, fashion forward styles that Imperia Furs & Leather offers. However, expenses for participating at fur fairs are rising rapidly; and therefore the IFF Fur Futures bursary gave us an opportunity to include more garments at the fashion show and offset the expense of the rising costs. Without the bursary our fashion show might have been incomplete.
“Coz WINTER is COMING! …sooner or later” is the title of our 2019/20 Collection. More specifically, extravagance and opulence inspired by <<Studio 52>>, the most famous nightclub of all time that was a sophisticated, groundbreaking multi-media visual extravaganza; was the inspiration for our collection. Show-stopping outerwear in full fur, for the ultimate peacock effect for men that want a look that just cannot fail to make an impact. A chinchilla fur bomber jacket with horizontal design and a long white fox fur coat were presented at the fashion show. In our experience, with men’s fashion the further we can push things the more comfortable men in fur become. The women’s collection had a WOW! factor, as a full length American cat lynx fur coat was presented along a swing white mink fur coat.
Being a member of IFF is a great pleasure as I see young people being encouraged and motivated to continue with confidence their fur trade journey. Also, something that is worth mentioning is the fact that according to FICA, 70% of the designers in New York, London, Paris and Milan had fur in their collection last season and in general as of today, there is more fur used in more ways at more price points and more points of distribution than ever before in the history of the fur industry. So for those who have their doubts they should look at statistics. As a young person myself, I hope that this post might inspire others to join IFF as only united we can create a better future for fur fashion and the fur industry.
Many thanks for this opportunity.
With Love,
Christina