ADOLFO FERNANDEZ THE CHINCHILLA COAT

Published by Lady Fur - May 8, 2012 at 7:32 pm

Interview with “The Chinchilla Man ” Adolfo Fernandez new young fur fashion designer .

How are you?

I’m a 28 year ,  fashion fur designer from Santiago de Chile, I´ve always been interested in the more luxurious side of this field, specially furs and couture, in 1998 I learned about Saga furs from Scandinavia and their collaboration with designers all over the world so when I was coursing my last year at fashion school I contacted them and apply for their student seminar in Denmark, which I took in February 2007, that was my first real approach to fur, it was an incredible experience and I learned tons from it, after arriving back in Chile and struggling a bit I got my struck of luck when I met Juan Yarur at a fashion shoot, he is a recognised patron for the arts and socialite in our country, back then I had only worked  five chinchilla skins which I bought with my first salary as an assistant, I used chinchilla skins in the collar of a jacket he saw at that shoot, he had wanted to own a blanket since he saw one at a James Bond movie, he commissioned to me, became my patron as well and that´s how it all begun.

Why do you use only chinchilla skins?

Actually I first learned to work with fur at Saga´s design centre which works and represents fox, mink and finnraccon furs from Scandinavia, but when I came back to Chile I realised it was very difficult to obtain those types of skins in my area but we had chinchilla farms which produce incredible quality fur skins, so I started to create with them, I really love chinchilla and it has a special place in my heart but I would love to work other types of fur as well.

Tell me about your passion for fur

I´ve always loved it, it has always had a special appeal to me, it´s very eye-catching and on top of it it´s incredible to the touch, when I was a kid and saw a lady wearing fur I would always try to come close without her noticing to caress her coat, it´s inherent in me I think, from a design perspective it´s a very interesting material to work with, it´s noble, very challenging and ads value to everything you do with it.

Tell me about your last collection

It´s a very classic and wearable line of accessories and jackets, most clients want something they can wear hopefully daily so the necklines are rather sporty looking, it´s very easy, very wearable and they get more fitted to the body each time, I like to line them with silks in contrasting tones and prints so it ads a touch of fun to the garments.

What are your future plans?

If everything goes well I will do a course at Parsons school of fashion design in New York soon, I’m very exited about it because it is such an important institution so I hope to learn tons from that experience and apply it to fur design as much as I can.

Do you have problems with the animalists?

I´ve had, specially at the beginning when I was a bit more vulnerable to their insults and threats, but after four years doing this I´ve gotten used to it, the good side of having to deal constantly with people being against of what you do is that they push you even further to learn more and more about your industry, so you can be even more confident about it and be able to debate more thoroughly.

What do you do in your free time?

I love to spend time with my friends and family, I also like listening to music, watching my favourite series, checking my favourite blogs (which most touch fashion in one way or another), reading the news and lots of daydreaming .

 with love Lady Fur .