fur sucks

[Guest guest]

Ugghhhh I'm gagging (better take a Gravol before you read this one...)

 

 

Sean " Puffy " Combs can get clothes from any designer in the world. Just check

out

this month's Vogue magazine spread, " Puffy Takes Paris, " of him posing with Kate

Moss and invited to the front row of couture shows by Lagerfeld and Galliano.

But the

huge, fabulous white fox Puffy wore conspicuously in Vogue didn't belong to a

stylist

and wasn't on loan from Versace. It his very own coat, made specially for him by

Nija.

 

Nija? Nija who?

 

And the deluge of e-mail to furs.com began. " Who is she, and where can I find

her? "

 

She's never given a fashion show or advertised anywhere or given away furs to

any

celebrities for free public relations.

 

The fact is, Nija Battle may be the best kept secret to the traditional fur

industry, but

she's got a list of celebrity clientele as long as your arm, especially NBA

players and

in the field of rap music: Combs, Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans, Missy Elliott,

Total, L'il

Kim, L. L. Cool J., Kase, Nas, Mike Tyson, Hezikia Walker, Mark Jackson &

Desiree

Coleman-Jackson, Kenny Anderson, Alen Iverson, Lynn Whitfield, Spinderella, Misa

Hilton Brim, Whitney Houston and Chico Debarge.

 

They've worn their Nija furs in magazines -- Vogue (February, September, October

'99), People, Allure, Vibe, National Inquirer, Tv Guide, The Source, Essence

(current

issue) -- and on tv and in videos -- Nas featuring Puffy in " Hate Me Now, " Puffy

in

" Public Enemy Number One, " Total in " I Can't Rock with You No More, " and Mary J.

Blige in " Divas Live '99. "

 

Nija (pronounced Nee-jha) Battle began by filling a need for masculine,

sharp-looking

men's furs. " Fifteen years ago, when I started out working in a fur store in

Harlem,

men used to come in to buy for themselves, " says Battle. " But what they found

was

either too feminine, or they had to buy a larger-size women's coat for

themselves. "

 

So 10 years ago she began working two jobs, one in retail (on Orchard Street in

lower

Manhattan) and one on Seventh Avenue, making her own creations. " I was the only

Black girl working in the stores on Orchard Street, " she remembers. " Black

celebrities

would come in the store and want to buy furs, but the white people wouldn't

recognize

them and they wouldn't wait on them -- until they saw their platinum cards or

rolls of

cash. Then they'd try to steal my customers. "

 

Along the way, Nija seized key opportunities to grow her profile. She met Puff

Daddy at

a party during the climb of his music industry career, and he expressed interest

in her

collection. Upon arrival to her showroom, she says, he knew exactly what and how

many items he wanted. Since then, he has purchased about a dozen Nija furs and

has shared his find with the other recording artists on his Bad Boy Records

label.

 

Last February Nija threw a luncheon in her showroom for Kenny Anderson's mother,

during the All-Star weekend for 20 NBA mothers. And then there was the time when

Mary J. Blige's manager stopped her coming out of a restaurant to ask about her

fur.

New customer. And when actress Lynn Whitfield ran into Nija at the Blue Note

jazz

club and asked to try on her bolero. New customer.

 

" God has been good to me. There is no question about it, " she says.

 

But Nija is quick to point out that her style, attention to top quality pelts

(she's got the

award to prove she bought one of top bundles of mink in all of North America

this

year) and craftsmanship, custom fit and couture service is what keeps people

coming

back.

 

And you can't meet her without feeling she's becoming a celebrity in her own

right for

her model looks (that was no stand-in taking her place in Essence this month)

and

fierce attitude. Approach hot-button topics to the fur trade like animal rights

and the

African American consumer, she'll knock you off your feet with a proud

dissertation on

heritage, her connection to the land, and the fact that certain people had

better get

their priorities straight in life.

 

Don't start talking trash to this woman about her furs, or you'll regret it.

 

Nija is thrilled to say she's the youngest Black woman fur designer in New York

City.

She's maybe the only one with a loyal clientele. She also feels that she's got

more of a

connection to the fur garments than the rest of White Seventh Avenue, because of

her

culture.

 

The child of a Black and Italian father and a Native American mother, Nija was

born in

Brooklyn. Her stylish mother, a Tuscarora from New Bern, North Carolina, managed

a

fashionable boutique with her husband, who was born in Detroit and grew up in

Harlem. As a hunter, Nija's father first inspired her to make a fur coat from

the skins of

game he brought home.

 

Nija spent summers and vacations in North Carolina with her maternal

grandmother,

a farmer who raised chickens for dinner and stone marten for a stole she made to

wear to church on Sundays.

 

" I saw a lot of nature, " she remembers, " and don't forget, it's always been part

of life in

Africa and in early America for slaves to use resources completely, to

appreciate

animals and not waste a thing. My grandmother made her own blankets. Why sleep

with a down comforter when you can have a fur blanket. But really, it's not like

there

was a grocery store right next door, and in the days of slavery, we used what we

had

access to.

 

" If I was ever addressed by one of those PeTA people, I can point them to some

causes that are more important than animals, " she continues. " What about people?

Besides, for somebody to tell a Native American or an African American not to

wear

fur, that's like saying we can't wear diamonds or gold because our people had to

work

naked in the mines in South Africa. These things belong to us. "

 

Nija describes her fashion style as " ghetto fabulous, " meaning not gawdy but

colorful

and of the best quality. " It's not just a Black thing, " she says. " I've traveled

around the

world and seen White and Black people in the ghetto, and they've always wanted

the

best. I can take you to the ghetto today and show you women in designer clothing

who

care about their appearance. "

 

Right now Nija sells to private customers with the help of her sister, Saddiya

Battle, in

her Seventh Avenue showroom, and she welcomes appointments by phone

(212-741-3070). But she says she's talking to Puffy about collaborating on a fur

line,

now that he has his Sean John clothing collection. And she's open to any retail

chain

that might want to showcase her talents.

 

For now she's been trying to grow her business slowly, so she doesn't take more

orders than she can deliver. It seems like she's just waking up, however, to a

huge

demand for her creativity. Keep an eye on this shooting star.

 

 

 

Now, as " one of those PeTA people " I have a few comments on this...

 

" ...and don't forget, it's always been part of life in Africa and in early

America for slaves to use resources completely, to appreciate animals and not

waste a thing... "

 

I'm so glad that the 50 (or however many) dead animals that Puffy's wearing (to

look " ghetto fabulous " ) didn't go to waste.(?!) (See:

http://www.furs.com/FUR/images_99/nija01.jpg ) I don't want to get too

controversial here but exploitation is exploitation, and the philosophy behind

torturing, exploiting, and using living beings as " resources " is the same,

whether it's blacks, jews, children, women or animals, because what we all have

in common is the desire to live, to have freedom, and to avoid pain and death.

Basing rights on species is arbitrary. It is no more rational than basing rights

on the pigmentation of skin or on gender, which are also determined genetically.

(See: http://www.veganoutreach.org/speciesism.html )

 

 

" Why sleep with a down comforter when you can have a fur blanket... "

 

Gee, I never thought of it that way...

 

 

" If I was ever addressed by one of those PeTA people, I can point them to some

causes that are more important than animals, " she continues. " What about

people? "

 

If everyone succombed to my secret animal rights brainwashing agenda we'd surely

have healthier people, a cleaner, healthier environment, food freed up for the

world's starving children, and I daresay a kinder, gentler planet. I guess I

" better get my priorities straight " .

 

Okay, that's my rant.

 

 

By the way, New York City fur salons, including those located in Macy's,

Boomingdale's, Bergdorf Goodman, and Saks Fifth Avenue, have been caught on

video repeatedly lying to customers about how animals are killed to make fur

coats. Here's the video: http://www.furisdead.com/furbuy.ram

 

CAFT http://www.banfur.com/

Fur-Free 2000 http://www.hsus.org/current/fur.html

http://www.peta-online.org/cmp/cfur.html