Seal fur hits the runway in Montreal

Seal jumpsuit from Bente Houmann Andersen (Image: Seal)

Beaver, rabbit and mink pelts may have been a fixture of Toronto fashion week, but the Canadian fur industry has come one step closer to putting seal skin on the backs of the city’s sartorialists. The news from this week’s North American Fur and Fashion Exposition trade show in Montreal is that the soaring price of mink (it’s up 30 to 50 per cent, thanks to cold weather and the easing recession) means that customers and designers will be choosing less expensive furs, like beaver, fox and, yes, seal, which are 60 per cent cheaper than mink. While seal fur (shown in Montreal by designer Bente Houmann Andersen) is prohibited in the U.S., China has become a growing market. Time will tell whether we see Stephen Harper wearing a seal coat (he did eat blubber) to shill the stuff.

• Mink Price Hikes May Force Shoppers Into Beaver, Fox, or Mink Combo Pieces [New York]
• China gives Canada its approval of seal [Toronto Star]