During the second half of the 1950s, ownership of a
fur garment was the dream of many women, but following
the social changes that occurred in the 1960s and
1970s, fur came to be seen as old-fashioned and bourgeois.
An illustration by the well-known painter Giuseppe
Novello, outstanding illustrator of Italy’s postwar bourgeoisie,
shows a woman at two different stages of her life.
In the first image she is young and thin and wears a fitted
coat. In the second she is weighted down by the years
and stuffed into a large fur. The caption reads “When I
first started wanting a fur coat . . . and when I finally had
one” (Novello, p. 32).
Lagerfeld, under the sisters’ direction, experimented
with materials, patterns, finishes, weight, tanning methods,
and colors, so that furs would be seen as something
completely new, supported by advanced technological
craftsmanship, suited to the needs of a public that wanted
more accessible and wearable fashion. In 1966 he scandalized
the fashion world by introducing color as a design
element: “A colorful fur coat that was not precious
but original” (Aragono, p. 92).
Page 77 from Valerie Steele's Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion.
