The increasingly widespread decision of the big fashion brands to ban animal furs in their collections leaves open a question: how to replace the mink, beaver, wolf and fox skins that cause so much disapproval in the collective sensibility? Until a few years ago, the choice had fallen on synthetic furs which – alas – have an environmental contraindication, deriving from fossil fuels, and also aesthetic, because they are often too shiny and too slippery.
A solution for long-haired furs
Then, under the pressure of the big brands, recycled polyester began to be used, which made it possible to mitigate the environmental impact and to “reproduce” the hand of short-haired furs, such as minks, rams, otters and beavers. Now the circle closes with long-haired furs. Innovation comes from French brand Tissavel, leader in premium synthetic fur fabrics for big brands including Dior, Gucci, Kenzo. Tissavel has launched a hybrid fiber that, according to what has been announced, allows for the first time to make sustainable long-haired synthetic fur.
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What does KP hybrid fiber contain
“In this type of furs, recycled polyester alone does not ‘make’ – explains Bruno Massa, chief merchant of the Tissavel brand for Europe, managed by the Italian branch of the Japanese Mitsui & Co – for this we needed a different solution and we found it”. It is a hybrid fiber called KP and formed for about 50% by Kanecaron, a modified hi-tech acrylic produced for some time by the Japanese Kaneka Corporation, and for the remaining 50% by a newly patented recycled polyester, which withstands processing and the typical pressures of Kanecaron and gives the product the sustainability license. “The result on long-haired furs is fantastic both in aesthetic and tactile terms,” says Massa who, after experimenting with KP fiber in the winter 2021 collection, is now fully using it in the development of the collection for winter 2022. The new fiber, of which Tissavel has the exclusive distribution, is also produced by Kaneka in Japan, and then transferred to China for weaving.
Strong growth market in Italy and Europe
Tissavel’s animal-free fur business in 2021 reached 10 million euros in Europe, of which six in Italy with 240 thousand meters of fur fabric sold to major brands. The increase was 20% and, according to Massa, it will continue driven by the KP fiber. «The large groups that have chosen sustainability are setting themselves goals to become 100% sustainable – he says – and even the large customers who still use animal furs are starting to show interest in learning more about sustainability. The process is irreversible: the world of real furs is now suffocating, the only country in which they are still used is Russia, but here too the new generations are looking to synthetic fur ».
The trend for winter 2022 does not favor neutral and natural colors, more similar to animal ones, as much as candy colors. Will the growth of the faux fur market continue? “Once the most important customers have been convinced – concludes Massa – the market is expanding and we, alongside Italy, France, Germany and England, are developing countries such as Scandinavia”.