��������� ��������� ����������������������� ������������������� ����������������� ������������������� ������������������� �������������������� ��������������������� ������ �� ������������� Dennis Basso pays personal attention to customers in his Madison Avenue flagship store, conversing with them as they shop for some of the most exclusive fur garments in the world. For a quarter century he has been serving customers who are also exclusive. “I have been privileged to be able to design fur for some of the most important people in the world, women from show biz, the social set, top professionals,” says Basso. “These women are tastemakers for the world. It’s the highest form of compliment for me.” Though he is reluctant to drop names, the opening of Basso’s flagship store on Madison drew an impressive list of celebs: Donald Trump, Patti Labelle, Joan Collins, Liza Minnelli, Naomi Campbell, Dan Aykroyd. The gathering was a virtual Who’s Who. ������������������������������������ Basso started his first shop 1983 and his activities have grown ever since. He now has fur boutiques in Aspen, Chicago, and Atlantic City as well as the main store in his hometown. The shops are, obviously, situated where there is a well-heeled clientele who consider fur to be a must. In 2007 he launched his first ready-to-wear line. “I was putting clothing under the furs for the runways and photo shoots, so I figured, why not design the garments that I use.” Another successful venture that began a few years ago is Basso’s sales of faux furs, clothing and accessories on the QVC TV channel. The Dennis Basso label has very great attraction. The design and manufacture of the Basso lines is handled at a 30,000-square-foot facility outside Manhattan. He has eight people working at the site, but Basso himself is a master furrier with years of expertise gained from working in every phase of fur production. The garments and accessories bearing the Dennis Basso label are designed <strong>by</strong> him and his selected team of “young people with fresh ideas, as creativity is such a vital link in the process.” Basso smiles, however, when he admits to having veto rights to designs. “Inspiration is a mood or a trend that is a reflection of the past 25 years. Retro doesn’t work – it’s all about interpretation,” he says. ��������������������������������� Dennis Basso has witnessed a lot of changes in the fur universe during the past 25 years, “Fur types generally go in cycles, but we are at a point now where many different furs are in fashion. Fur is part of a fashion statement,” he says. The fur garment was generally a once-in-a-lifetime purchase, but now women incorporate fur into their seasonal wardrobes. “Fur was specific for an occasion, it was a lifetime purchase,” says Basso. “Now it is a fashion purchase.” Fur has retained its intrinsic appeal as the most luxurious of materials, but ways to use fur have undergone drastic change in the past few decades When he started out in the business, Basso catered mainly to a “mature” customer, but now women in their 20s are wearing fur. “It’s the interpretation in an unorthodox manner, and that attracts young people,” he says. “Lightness is one of the greatest innovations in fur. A coat used to weigh ten pounds, now you get a coat that is as light as a feather, stylish, and supple – this is very important.” ������������������������� New thinking attracts a new customer and developments in fur have spurred the popularity of fur as a raw material. “<strong>Saga</strong> <strong>Furs</strong> has always been taking steps forward. The company is a leader in creativity and coming up with interesting new things, processes, colour, textures. It has helped fur to become part of the modern sophisticated wardrobe.” Not only have applications for fur undergone a virtual metamorphosis, the availability of fur has expanded dramatically. Fur is certainly a mainstay of haute couture collections, but RTW and mainstream retailers have been showing more and more fur, mainly as trim. “The accessibility of fur has changed, the Mom & Pop fur shop is slowly disappearing,” Basso says. “You see the expansion of fur in an atypical setting.” The luxe end of the fashion landscape has also seen shifts. Years ago, top-end consumers had to travel to Italy or France to find the latest trends, but top fashion is now found in major cities around the world. As Basso puts it: “Now the whole world is a shopping avenue,” and women from around the world come to shop in his luxurious boutiques.
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