Last Updated: 4:16 AM, February 17, 2011
Posted: 12:43 AM, February 17, 2011
Comments: 0 
PrintFast-rising fur prices are threatening to take the skin off upscale fashion designers.
While soaring cotton prices sap profits across the clothing industry, luxury labels say a dramatic run-up in the price of mink and other fine furs has likewise forced them to scramble to maintain their margins as demand for furry fashions surges worldwide.
"People are ordering their fur earlier in the season than ever because they're afraid of what they'll have to pay if they wait until the following week," said Khajak Keledjian, CEO of Intermix, the trendy New York-based fashion boutique.
Shaking off a sluggish economy and years of protests from anti-fur activists, top designers at New York runway shows this week -- including Oscar de la Renta, Donna Karan and Michael Kors -- have been stitching increasing amounts of mink, sable, beaver, chinchilla and muskrat into their frocks.
An even bigger driver of fur prices, according to industry insiders, is surging demand from China's fast-growing middle- and upper-class shoppers, who now account for more than 70 percent of global fur consumption.
While soaring cotton prices sap profits across the clothing industry, luxury labels say a dramatic run-up in the price of mink and other fine furs has likewise forced them to scramble to maintain their margins as demand for furry fashions surges worldwide.
"People are ordering their fur earlier in the season than ever because they're afraid of what they'll have to pay if they wait until the following week," said Khajak Keledjian, CEO of Intermix, the trendy New York-based fashion boutique.
Designers could see their profits squeezed as they’re forced to pay as much as 50 percent more to trim their fashions and accessories with fine furs.
An even bigger driver of fur prices, according to industry insiders, is surging demand from China's fast-growing middle- and upper-class shoppers, who now account for more than 70 percent of global fur consumption.
