Fur is skin, and skin responds to the same things yours does: it dislikes dryness, it dislikes being compressed, and it dislikes being left wet. Almost every fur we are sent for restoration has been damaged by storage rather than by wear. Forty years of hanging in the wrong place will do more harm than forty winters outdoors.
The weekly habit
Shake the piece out before you hang it. Fur picks up dust and the dust settles at the base of the hairs; a firm shake with the garment held at the shoulders lifts most of it away. Brush with the lay of the hair — never against it — using a soft brush and long, unhurried strokes.
Never brush a wet piece. Wet hair stretches, and hair that is stretched while wet resets in that position. If a coat is caught in rain, shake it and hang it somewhere with moving air, away from a radiator, until it is dry to the touch.
Hanging and storage
Use a broad wooden hanger with a shaped shoulder, and give the piece room. Fur crushes permanently under pressure, so a crowded rail is a slow act of damage. A cotton garment bag is right; plastic is not, because it traps moisture against the skin.
The one thing we would ask above all else is this: never store a fur in a plastic bag, and never store it in a heated room through the summer. Warmth and dryness are what turn supple skin brittle.
- Hang on a broad shaped hanger, with space either side
- Use a breathable cotton bag — never plastic
- Keep away from radiators, direct sun and dry heat
- Cold, dark and slightly humid storage is ideal
Annual brushing and cold storage
Once a year, bring the piece back to us. We brush the skin, clean the hair with a compound matched to the fur type, check the linings and closures, and store it through the warm months in cold storage at controlled humidity.
This service is included with every Furixé piece for as long as you own it. It is also, honestly, the entire reason our older coats still look the way they do — a fur that comes back to the atelier every year effectively never ages.
