Fur’s Quiet Boom: What Valentino, Khaite and a €220 Million Auction Say About This Winter
Luxury fashion is reconsidering fur as faux alternatives, shearling and surging mink prices reshape the conversation this winter.
Valentino opened their Fall/Winter 2026 runway with a long mahogany coat cinched with a leather belt at the waist. The coat had a plunging V-neck and also sported popular balloon sleeves. The interesting part is the banding that runs down its length. Valentino wasn’t looking to mimic mink as much as they were mimicking the let-out construction furriers use to create their coats. To the trained eye of a furrier, it isn’t attempting to duplicate mink. It imitates let-out mink. Valentino creative director Alessandro Michele named his collection “Interferenze” which translates to “interferences”. He said in an interview that he is the interference. He explained to WWD that he designs garments “for a brand that does not bear your name, and this tension leads to what you are seeing.” What we do know is that coat was not mink fur. Valentino went out of their way to announce they were going fur-free May 2021 so viewers were left to question if that gorgeous coat was shearli...