Fur Directory
Nine furs, and they do not behave the same way. Weight, warmth, drape, durability and price vary enormously between them, and the differences matter more than most buying guides admit. This directory explains what each fur actually is, what it feels like to wear, and who it suits.
If you are weighing two of these against each other, the fastest way to decide is usually to hold both. Book a Video Shopping appointment and we will show you the skins side by side on camera.
Russian Sable
The most expensive fur in commercial use, and the only one that visibly shifts tone as it moves. Sable is exceptionally light for its warmth, with a silky hand and long silver guard hairs scattered through darker underfur. Colour runs from deep near-black through to golden brown, and the darker and more heavily silvered a skin is, the higher its price.
Best for: a once-in-a-lifetime piece, or anyone who wants maximum warmth at minimum weight.
Worth knowing: sable trim on a mink coat can multiply the price several times over. It is the single biggest driver of price variation in fur.
Mink
The benchmark fur, and the most versatile. Dense underfur with short guard hairs, light enough to wear daily and durable enough to last decades with proper care. Mink can be worked more ways than any other fur: let out into long vertical panels for a fluid drape, worked skin-to-skin for structure, sheared for a velvet finish, or knitted for something lighter and more casual.
Best for: a first serious fur, or the piece you actually wear rather than save.
Worth knowing: male and female skins behave differently. Female mink is lighter and silkier, male mink is larger, heavier and more robust.
Blackglama Mink
Not a species but a certification. Blackglama is the trademarked label applied to the top grade of naturally dark ranch mink, awarded only to skins that meet its standard for colour depth and clarity. The fur is mink in every respect, selected for a black so deep it reads as solid.
Best for: anyone who wants the darkest possible mink without dye.
Worth knowing: across our own catalogue, Blackglama-labelled pieces carry roughly a 20 percent premium over comparable unlabelled mink.
Chinchilla
The softest fur that exists, and the most delicate. Chinchilla has the highest hair density of any land mammal, around sixty hairs from each follicle, which is why it feels closer to smoke than to fur. Natural colouring is a slate grey with darker tips and a pale underside.
Best for: evening pieces, capes and shorter jackets where the fur is the entire point.
Worth knowing: the hair is fine enough to break under friction. Chinchilla needs the most attentive storage of any fur we sell.
Baumarten
Baum marten, sometimes called pine marten, is the connoisseur's choice and the least known fur on this list. Soft as sable, lighter than mink, with a natural amber-brown lustre that catches light without shouting. It sits between mink and sable in both hand and price.
Best for: someone who already owns mink and wants something few people will recognise.
Bobcat
The most visually distinctive fur we work with. Bobcat carries a spotted, barred pattern across a pale cream to tawny ground, with the belly fur the most prized section. No two skins carry the same markings, so no two bobcat garments are alike.
Best for: a statement piece where pattern does the work.
Worth knowing: bobcat sits above untrimmed mink but well below sable on price.
Fox
The longest-haired fur in general use, with dense underfur beneath long glossy guard hairs. Fox has volume and movement no short-haired fur can produce, which is why it is used so often for collars, cuffs, hoods and full statement pieces. Available natural in silver, blue, red, arctic and marble, and readily dyed.
Best for: trim, collars and pieces meant to move.
Worth knowing: in our catalogue, fox trim adds far less to a garment's price than sable does.
Swakara
One of the oldest domesticated sheep breeds in the world, and unlike anything else here. Swakara has a flat, tight, wave-patterned curl with a high lustre, closer in appearance to three-dimensional moire silk than to conventional fur. It is light, drapes flat rather than full, and takes tailored shapes beautifully.
Best for: structured, tailored silhouettes and anyone who dislikes visible pile.
Rex Rabbit
Bred originally in France for its coat, rex rabbit has almost no protruding guard hair, leaving a uniform plush surface with a genuine velvet feel. It is the most accessible fur we stock and the lightest to wear.
Best for: a first fur, or a soft casual piece.
Worth knowing: the short dense pile is less hard-wearing than mink over many seasons.
Cashmere with Fur
Not a fur, but how many clients now buy. We work in Loro Piana cashmere with fur trim in mink, sable or chinchilla, often detachable so one coat serves both a daytime and an evening purpose. It is the lightest way to wear fine fur and the easiest to integrate into an existing wardrobe.
Choosing Between Them
If you want the warmest thing per gram, sable. The most wearable and most versatile, mink. The softest, chinchilla. The most distinctive, bobcat. The most tailored, Swakara. The lightest introduction, cashmere with trim.
Where each of these skins comes from and how they are graded is covered on our Sourcing Standards page. If you want a piece built in a specific fur to your own measurements, see Custom Order.