Nunavut woman’s design stars at Montreal fur show

Three seal producers from Quebec and Newfoundland have formed a Canadian seal marketing group, called Seal. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

The European Union’s ban on seal products is “stupid,” says Alan Herscovici, the executive vice-president of the Fur Council of Canada, which organizes the annual North American Fur and Fashion Exposition in Montreal. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

Award-winning designer Rosie Audlakiak of Qikiqtarjuaq, a first year student at Nunavut Arctic College’s fur production program, wears a vest of her own design as she stands in front of a display of other Nunavut-made garments at the Montreal fur show.

Nunavut’s booth at the Montreal fur show was modest this year, featuring a few sealskin garments for show only, as the territory refocuses its seal marketing efforts on the local market. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

Models wear original creations by German designer Bente Houmann Andersson, commissioned by a non-profit group called “Seal” to promote the seal and the many potential uses of seal products. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

MONTREAL — As she watched a towering, rail-thin model strut down the runway at the Montreal fur show on May 3, Rosie Audlakiak of Qikiqtarjuaq felt like a star.

The model wore a form-fitting red sealskin vest, decorated with a pale fox and tiny tufts of raccoon, with little else, exposing her navel as she walked down the runway in front of hundreds of fur buyers.

For Audlakiak, a first-year student in Nunavut Arctic College’s fur production course, it was her shining moment.

Audlakiak had designed the vest, which received the grand prize in the 2010 national “fur re-invented” competition, sponsored by the Fur Council of Canada.

The vest took hours of work after class and on the weekend to complete, when Audlakiak had to call on words of advice from elders and inspiration from the many fine sewers in her family to continue.

But the result of these efforts was worth it for Audlakiak, who said she wants to return to Qikiqtarjuaq after finishing her certificate and start her own seal design business there.

Based on the tough state of the seal fur business, Qikiqtarjuaq, with its bountiful supply of seals, may be the last best place in the world to design and sell garments of sealskin.

A year after the European Union voted in a ban on sealskin products to its 27-member countries, the market for seal products is shrinking — the United States market has been shut for years, and some time this fall, the EU’s door will also slam shut.

The increased pressure surfaced at the North American Fur and Fashion Exposition in Montreal from May 1 to May 4.

At the fur show, which now goes by the acronym NAFFEM — presumably to keep a low profile and discourage animal rights protestors — many fur houses used to include some seal in their high fashion collections.

Now, only a handful of presenters show sealskins or anything even made with sealskin.

Three booths hawked sealskins — mainly from Nunavut.

But the largest visible display of sealskins, belonging to a company called Splendor, featured pelts dyed to look like zebra, leopard, plaid— that is, anything but seal.

Nunavut’s display, shared with the Northern Canadian Wild Furs and Fur Harvesters, included a rack of sealskin clothing — but they weren’t for sale. Instead, Nunavut was taking orders for traditionally prepared ring sealskins.

Bilodeau, a Quebec company, showed an array of handsome items like knee-high sealskin boots with practical, retractable cleats on the bottom and snowmobile mitts, which they sell mainly in Quebec and the Maritimes.

But seller Emilie Gaudreault said buyers were shying away from the natural sealskin look and preferred the black — anything that didn’t say “seal.”

The North Atlantic Fur Group Canada, a Newfoundland company with links to Denmark and Greenland, displayed coats, bags and novelty items like sealskin-covered rifle case, ammunition belt where Great Greenland’s bags attracted a lot of interest from some buyers.

That’s not to say the seal industry isn’t fighting back to keep and fine buyers. Late last year, three seal producers from Quebec and Newfoundland formed a Canadian seal market group, called Seal.

At a May 3 event at Seal’s booth at the fur show, speakers said they want to raise awareness about the seal’s many uses in fashion, cuisine, nutritional supplements and medicine.

A female model wore a slouchy sealskin vest decorated with loops of sealskin and sealskin jodhpurs, designed for Seal by German fur designer Bente Houmann Andersson to promote a China’s fur show earlier his year.

Alan Herscovici, the executive vice-president of the Fur Council of Canada, was in a fighting mood at the event.

The seal ban is “not devastating but stupid,” Herscovici said in an interview, because seals are far from being endangered and are killed humanely.

“It’s time we spoke up,” he told the crowd. Don’t let the “animal right activists dictate the agenda,” he urged.

This was a message that seemed to please those in attendance —mainly government representatives.

A buyer from Montreal who looked on said she likes sealskin.

“It’s a Canadian product. We should be proud,” she said.

But she didn’t have plans to buy.

A U.S. buyer said he can’t bring sealskin in to the U.S. But, in any event, he said doubted anyone in his home state of South Carolina would wear seal due to the heat — although he did admit women there are ready to wear much heavier mink coats.

For its part, Nunavut is retrenching its efforts to sell sealskin after the “double whammy of the ban and economic recession,” said Devin Imrie, the Government of Nunavut’s advisor for sealing and fur.

While last year, Nunavut made a show of force by bringing the premier and environment minister and other officials to NAFFEM. This year Imrie was the only GN representative around.

Nunavut’s plan now is to sell more dressed sealskins to Nunavummiut, Imrie said.

“That’s the focus, to develop the domestic market,” he said.

Nunavut also wants to work on selling to fur-loving markets like China.

But Nunavut is not joining up with the Seal group, although Imrie said the territory benefits from its efforts indirectly.

“We have such a good story here,” Imrie said referring to Nunavut.

Probably he meant that Nunavut’s hunt doesn’t raise the image of hakapiks or sealers out on the bloody ice pans from Quebec or the Maritimes.

But at NAFFEM, few would have been able to learn much about Nunavut’s sealing or even about fur.

Again this year, in a move to stymie protestors, NAFFEM took place deep underground at Montreal’s Place Bonaventure, in an unmarked area, only accessible after passing airport-like security measures.