Aussie roo skin, Indonesian snake skin and possum skin in fashion

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Kangaroo fur tuxedo hops in

By Natasha Bita in Florence

January 17, 2005

 

FOXES and minks face serious competition this week on the catwalks of

Florence, where kangaroo fur has become the must-have pelt.

 

 

Must-have ... the latest Italian fashions will raise animal activists'

hackles / The Australian

 

 

Salvatore Ferragamo, the luxury leathergoods house, showed a slim tuxedo

jacket made of kangaroo fur, lustrous as black velvet, in its 2005/06

autumn/winter menswear collection in the Italian fashion city yesterday.

 

 

" We used kangaroo pelt to make the dinner jacket, but we shaved it right

back with a razor to give it gloss, " designer Massimiliano Giornetti

said.

 

Ferragamo used a menagerie of exotic hides, showing an extravagant cloak

of Argentinean fox fur, coats of cropped mink, and python-leather

jackets coloured orange by hand.

 

Ermenegildo Zegna, the Italian label famed for its no-nonsense business

suits, designed a velvety black roo-hide blazer for its youth line,

Z-Zegna.

 

" Do you eat kangaroo? " asked top designer Alessandro Sartori. " What does

it taste like? "

 

And roos are not the only Australian wildlife straying on to the

international catwalks. The world's priciest crocodile skin is being

fashioned into luxurious belts, bags, boots and coats.

 

New Zealand, which considers the introduced brush-tail possum a pest,

has built an industry selling fluffy possum pelts to eco-friendly

designers for fur coats and jackets.

 

Indonesia is a key supplier of snakeskin, feeding the fashion for exotic

python leather.

 

Even humble Australian cowhide is winning popularity in Europe.

Blundstone, the Australian working-class boot, is selling 15,000 pairs

in the world footwear capital of Italy each year, costing about E100

($170) per pair.

 

" It's original, it's versatile and it's very resistant, " Andrea Cane,

the company's Italian distributor, said at the Pitti Uomo menswear trade

show in Florence.

 

" Even though for you Australians it's a work boot, for us it is a

long-wearing classic. "

 

Cane said it was crucial that Blundstone boots continued to be made in

Australia, as it gave them a marketing edge in Europe.

 

Cult surf label Mambo was the only other Australian company among more

than 600 designers exhibiting at Pitti Uomo, Europe's biggest luxury

menswear trade fair.

 

For the first time, Mambo recruited three freelance designers from

London to help craft its latest collection, which features cream duffle

coats and lacy cardigans.

 

The Australian