Partnership

Furs Means a Lot

Women and furs are inseparable. Perhaps this is the reason why Rot Front, the largest European fur manufacture, is headed by women. We spoke to Natalya Karzhavina, its director general , and Galina Gavrentsova, its business director .

        N.K.: Russia has long been known as the country of furs, something which brought it both fame and profit. Our enterprise corroborates these facts, so its history is closely connected with the history of Russian furs.
        G.G.: Yes, the business began in 1885 when Martens, a German furrier, opened his workshop in St. Petersburg, at 21 Nevsky prospect. Soon after that this workshop merged with the Schults dye-works, the first one in the country, and hence Russia learned to make fur goods and prepare raw materials for this production.
        - Many years have passed since then…
        N.K.: The manufacture experienced different periods, it gained recognition and won prestige at international competitions and shows. But recently things have not been easy. The fur industry declined and traditional economic links fell apart, so we had to reduce our staff in order to survive. Nevertheless in 1993 we managed to re-equip technically, buy the latest machinery and technologies for the dressing of skins, and better our clearing system.
        G.G.: Today some of the fur farms which were our country's pride not so long ago, are closed, and other ones have sunk into such poverty that they do not even have enough money to feed their animals. So the quality and amount of furs is reduced, and a greater number of skins are brought to Russia from abroad, for example, beaver skins.
        N.K.: This situation forces Rot Front to buy skins from foreign providers. Today we have about fifty Russian and foreign partners but we want this number to increase and we are ready to establish new links. But we are sure that this problem must be solved by federal authorities and our state must be interested in the support for fur farms. Russian furs have always been the best, and warm hats and fur coats are quite necessary for people in our country.
        - As far as we have touched on such a vital issue, especially for women, as furs, please say some words about the main tendencies of present-day fashion.
        N.K.: Today the furs of waterfowl animals are in great fashion all over the world. This has been corroborated by the last public sale in Copenhagen and the Furs of Russia show in Moscow. Our manufacture has received a lot of orders for the dressing of beavers, coon-skins, and sealskins, and this is quite understandable, for Rot Front is the only enterprise in Russia able to dress the skins of the marine animals.
        Our manufacture uses more than fifteen types of fur for making fur coats, mantles, hats, jackets, and even fine evening gowns of astrakhan. The enterprise has great experience in the redying of furs, so almost any color can be attained. Our company creates more than a hundred new models a year. Rot Front products are widely known abroad. We also make exclusive and individual models. For example, we made fur coats for Galina Vishnevskaya and Edita Pieha. But we are mostly oriented towards the usual customer - a Russian woman who can not afford the renewing of her wardrobe every year and needs a warm, fashionable, and comfortable fur coat. That is why our motto is European Quality for Russian Furs.

Interview by Marina Alexeeva