Back in February of this year, shortly after the Italian and French menswear collections ended, the French newspaper Le Figaro headlined, “La fourrure gagne la mode homme” (Fur wins over men’s fashion). The paper plainly remarked how rare were the houses that didn’t show fur this time around. Surprised or not, this past set of collections did change the fashion landscape.

For a video montage on Men’s Fur for Fall go here.

Are we entering a new post-modern era? Is the gender gap finally closing on its artificial cultural boundaries? Time will tell, and so will this upcoming fall/winter season when we’ll finally observe first-hand what men actually wear out in the open.

The article looked at the furs used the past few years and credited shearlings, what the French call peaux lainées (wooled skins), as the icebreaker for this emerging market. Designers, too, are reevaluating their fur approach and engaging it with a much wider creative arsenal than previously perceived.

The age-old concept of Russian men in sables and dapper-Joe Mafiosi in minks are gone for good. Today, the interest is as based on the fur types selected –from mink and fox to rabbit and beaver– as it is on the new technologies that transform the pelts into ultra-luxe materials. Treatments such as micro-shearing, knitting, or laser-treating either side of the pelt, allow for a greater design potential and customer appreciation.

Shall this menswear trend fluff-up its hair this upcoming spring-summer collection cycle? We shall find out in a couple weeks.

In the meantime, don’t be left out in the cold this winter guys!