Password: fur

Sight, Fashion and Style

A furrier who for over 60 years had sold more than fur coats to women in New York City.
 


Character description:

Leonard Kahn is the last furrier of a generation that once had 14 family members working in the fur industry. The 87-year-old works every weekday from 8-5 and is not looking to retirement because for him there is nothing more exciting than creating handmade fur coats.
 


Description of the story:

Leonard Kahn is the last furrier of a generation that once had 14 family members working in the fur industry. He has been in the business for over 60 years and has seen how little by little the industry is disappearing in the US. He used to own his own store but now he shares a showroom with other furriers on 7th Ave and 30th street in Manhattan. He said the business is moving overseas to countries like Russia and China, where hand labor is cheaper and easier to find.
If you want to see Mr. Kahn visit him at:
Corniche Furs
345 7th Ave 20th Floor
New York, NY 10001
(212) 239-8655
 


Links:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/fur-markets-comeback-stalled-by-economic-turmoil-in-russia-and-china/article23016643/
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/fur-trade-gets-the-hairy-eyeball/41254670
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/should-you-feel-guilty-about-wearing-vintage-fur/
http://www.racked.com/2015/2/11/7986839/fashion-industry-fur-veganism
 


Audience engagement:

FB post: FUR : an industry that once moved the fashion scene in NYC is now going oversees. Check the story of a furrier who has seen this chance.
TW: While some are looking to retire at 50, this 87-year-old furrier is no looking forward to move to Florida.
**links not provided yet, posts will be made once the story gets published**
 


Short behind-the-scenes story:

When my colleague Owen Agnew was looking for a fur hat for his wife, he met Leonard Kahn at his shop in Manhattan. Owen was fascinated about the 87-year-old furrier who at this age was happy to be selling coats and didn’t look forward to retirement. He then told me about Mr. Kahn and with no doubt I agreed to help him making a story about this interesting character. Once I met Mr. Kahn, I couldn’t leave his shop and not because I was into the coats he sells, it was because of the factory that’s behind the shop, where all the magic takes place. This video will take you there, bringing you the sounds, the colors, the people that take a piece of skin and merge it with another tiny piece to create a beautiful coat.

Potential outlets:

New York Times’ fashion section, The Atlantic, and the Village Voice.
 


Transcript

The first sense is sight, not touch. Sight. Style. See the style, see the color. How its going to look on different women. The touch is, comes from the quality that you’re going to use.
I love quality, I love fashion, I love color, and I specially love making something that nobody else can make… and the right thing for the right person.
Mr. Kahn, I want one of this short gray ones.. yeah we have it, but do you have it on sale? for you? anytime… thats what I tell everybody.
I always tell the woman first of all, that they don’t buy a fur, they buy a furrier. And he has to guide you, not, I don’t wanna just make a sell, thats not me. I want the right look for the right person, I don’t want to sell somebody something that she’s gonna be criticized. What you bought that from Mr. Kahn?
No matter what, women don’t know fur. Furriers don’t know fur, a lot of them. They just, you go to the department store and they take a salesman from the shoe department, making them a fur salesman. He just wants to make a sell. Whatever, whatever the woman is gonna buy, he doesn’t care, he made a sell.
Fur, a beautiful fur has to do something for you. The most important thing is that you have to love it. I argue with some women, don’t agree with them. I said, that’s not for you, and uh, most of the time because I guess, our relationship, they listen, some don’t.
You get a sense about women, and you get a sense of how they’re going to react to certain looks. When somebody is happy, and they call me and tell me I have so many compliments, and thank you and so forth, that’s the greatest thing that can happen to me.
 


For more information, contact Ana M. Rodriguez at anarodriguez.journalist@gmail.com

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