Putting the hot back into cold, Harricana’s Ecoluxe collection for winter 2010 reflects the sexy and chic instead of frigid Canadian climates with its environmentally conscious luxury fur coats and accessories.
A fashionable and ecological solution to restoring the old fur coat hanging in the closet of the house you grew up in can now be a unique accessory to the Harricana Par Mariouche collection.
“We’re enjoying taking what people don’t want anymore, what people don’t find fashionable enough and turning them into something that’s nice and trendy and beautiful,” says Harricana designer Mariouche Gagné.
Based in Montreal with a small production — many items are limited with 20 to 500 units — Harricana’s Canadian-made luxe recycled collection of one-of-a kind fur accessories and outwear is now available at its e-boutique at harricana.qc.ca. Many products are made-to-order.
In earlier years, the Harricana winter collection concentrated on a raw, natural look — a look inspired by the Inuit culture.
The Harricana Winter 2010 Collection includes City Sleek or Chrome; Boudoir, a luxurious and femme fatale collection targeting the more sophisticated and feminine women; and Intemporelle, Harricana’s classics.
“A lot of our products are designed to be both beautiful and practical. Often in winter you find very practical gear but you don’t really have very feminine, very trendy gear,” Gagné, 38, says.
It started when the designer was studying at a school in Italy and faced a roadblock due to a lack of funds. Her mother sent her a fax to enter a fur contest and using her mom’s old raccoon pelts, she transformed them into her new career.
Since then, the mother of two, hobby pilot and full-time designer, started recycling a number of pelts, silks and wedding dresses. Her line is worn by celebrities like Johnny Depp, Julie Depardieu, daughter of actor Gérard Depardieu, and a number of artists in France.
And animal lovers are Harricana lovers, too.
“A lot of people buying my things are saying they would never buy new. I even have vegetarians wearing my things,” Gagné said. “We have to really start being careful with everything we buy and everything we put our money toward because we’re actually sponsoring companies to either do things the wrong way or the right way.”
