What woman doesn’t dream of a mink coat? Of course, any. But, if you are one of those who will not rip off your fur treasure in public transport, then why not aim for a truly high-quality and exclusive product? However, after spending a decent amount of money, you don’t want to get a replica. That’s why let’s try to figure it out and choose a real NAFA fur coat.
What is NAFA anyway? If we decipher the abbreviation, we get North American Fur Auctions. It is there that the highest quality mink skins are sold, which can then be used by the most famous designers in the world. Therefore, products with the NAFA symbol are found in Nina Ricci, Gianfranco Ferre, Roberto Cavalli, Jean Gaultier, Claude Montand and other representatives of the pantheon of the elite of the fashion world.
BlackNAFA is a Canadian variety of black North American mink. Its distinctive feature is the velvety main hair and a strongly pronounced underfur. Moreover, the guard villi themselves are almost the same length as the down. From a distance, such a fur coat resembles a plucked one. This is exactly what careless entrepreneurs take advantage of, who actually bring the Chinese mink to the required condition by dyeing and plucking.
The BlackNAFA mink coat is sometimes difficult to distinguish from the Blackglama mink coat. It’s quite easy to understand the topic; our article will help you with this - Differences between BlackNAFA and Blackglama fur.
Other fur colors BlackNAFA
However, in addition to the “Black” color, exclusive mink coats with the NAFA quality mark can be of other shades and colors. And other animals in general. For example, NAFA Northern is the fur of wild animals, and NAFA Fox is a black fox. However, in all cases, quality is the main indicator of authenticity, and this is where the biggest “but” lies.
Mink Nafa Mink
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Nafa Mink is a wonderful North American mink with short hair.
Its fur combines a short pile of uniform length with a delicate thick down, the height of which differs little from the height of the rest. This combination provides unique texture and density. This fur evenly covers the leather fabric and shines incredibly, shimmering in the sun. Its color palette includes all shades of deep black, hot chocolate, blue-black and anthracite. However, not every skin that fits this description is awarded the Nafa Mink label. Before the skin is marked, it will have to undergo a thorough check, during which every characteristic will be analyzed - the density of the flesh, the density and height of the down, the condition of the guard hair, color, and so on. The work is carried out by professional sorters who have a perfect understanding of furs and will certainly not miss even the slightest deviation. This is why the Nafa Mink brand affixed to the skin is so prestigious: it is a guarantee of the highest quality and durability; and only about 5% of raw materials can receive NAFA certification. As a result, the buyer of a product made from mink of this brand can be one hundred percent sure that the fur coat, short fur coat, coat, jacket will last for many years, and all this time it will delight with shine, softness and amazing, admirable and the envy of others, beauty. This is a mink for the elite, wealthy and respectable.
You can only buy Nafa Mink at auctions held by the North American Fur Association (NAFA) twice a year, in May and February. This is the third largest fur trading establishment and, at the same time, one of the oldest in the world - it has been operating for 300 years and provides furs to a select circle, including royalty, movie stars, and politicians. Only exceptional, elite furs are sold here, and Nafa Mink not only takes its rightful place among them, but is also among the top lots, the most expensive and most desirable.
Tricks that fur coat manufacturers go to
Unfortunately, there is no , because, in principle, labels are given on the quality of the skins themselves. It’s like the quality of good fish: someone will cook it quickly and expertly, resulting in a masterpiece; someone will ruin it. In addition, labels are received on average for a certain number of skins. Let's say that much more material was used for an exclusive super-booper product. Where will the rest of the labels go? Where is the guarantee that even famous brands, in conditions of a total crisis, will not sew them onto Chinese mink of quite decent quality, while presenting this miracle as a “wow-wow sale”? Nowhere. Even checks in this case will show that “everything is excellent” and was purchased by this particular brand, because the labels themselves are truly authentic.
Total 4 types of NAFA mink coat
There are only four main labels of the brand : Black NAFA - exclusive models from black North American mink, NAFA Mink - the best short-haired mink in a wide color palette, NAFA Northern, representing the furs of wild animals, and NAFA Fox - silver fox fur. Also, additional lines are NAFA Velvet, NAFA Accessory and Norhern Lights.
Here we will tell you more about two labels - NAFA Mink and NAFA Velvet. You definitely need to know how to correctly distinguish a fake NAFA fur coat from a real one.
NAFA – History of the fur brand
NAFA (North American Fur Association) is the world's third largest fur auction and synonymous with luxury fur. The corporate identity is mink. All products come under the famous BlackNafa label. The history of NAFA goes back 335 years; movie stars and wives of oligarchs, top models and everyone who is not indifferent to fur are convinced of the authority and experience of the craftsmen of this manufacturer.
Such high quality of products is explained by perfect compliance with all requirements at all stages of fur production. As soon as the furs arrive within the corporation, they are assessed and sorted by quality by professional sorters. They are the ones who select and fully control the materials from which magnificent fur products will be sewn. The quality of furs is controlled manually, which eliminates the possibility of defective products.
It is thanks to the careful selection of supplied furs that the trademark with the NAFA symbol on a mink or lynx coat is a guarantor of world-standard quality. It turns out that only 5% of all fur products can proudly boast of having a quality certificate from NAFA.
It was this company that told the whole world that furs are above all fashion trends, they are less susceptible to metamorphosis. Fur coats from NAFA are for selected buyers and are designed for those who know a lot about fur products.
NAFA house auctions are respected by world fashion houses, so models from this manufacturer can be found at famous shows in Paris, Milan, New York and Moscow.
As mentioned above, NAFA has developed its own system for assessing the quality of fur products. Four quality labels have been specially developed for this purpose. The first one is Black NAFA. They can only be awarded to exclusive models of the world famous North American black mink, which differs from all others in its softness and short hair structure, as well as its incredibly thick down.
The second quality mark is NAFA Mink. Only products made from the best farm short-haired mink fur can be awarded. Among them you can find a wide variety of natural colors and shades of fur - from a pastel palette to Blue Iris and Sapphire.
Another NAFA Northern quality label. Entire collections of different types of fur become owners of this title.
The NAFA Fox mark marks the standards of high-quality products made from the fur of a silver-black selective fox. They are distinguished by incredible perfection of color and silkiness.
Today, the company supports the endeavors of fur sewing craftsmen around the world; advertising campaigns, fashion shows at prestigious shows and exhibitions, educational seminars and design master classes are carried out on a grand scale. NAFA collaborates with famous designers, including Jean Paul Gaultier, Roberto Cavalli, Jeanfranco Ferré, Claude Montana.
Types and styles of Canadian mink coats
One of the most popular, but also the most expensive types of Canadian mink is Blackknife - an analogue of the most expensive blackglama in the world. This is a black mink with short pile and down that is unique to it. I use this type when sewing the most interesting, flowing models, which, thanks to the velvet fur, turn out to be especially impressive. This is not a cheap fur, so the low cost of mink passed off as blackknife should immediately alert you.
It should be noted that mink coats made from Canadian blackknife mink are elite products, because each skin is a top lot, carefully selected at an auction in Toronto. In addition, not every skin that matches the description of an almost black color is worthy of this marking. Thus, from different manufacturers, skins may barely differ noticeably in shade or density of fur due to different conditions of detention. Therefore, most often the skins of one manufacturer receive the Nafa®Mink marking, all of whose skins have a perfectly even and identical shade, and therefore their quantity is very limited. This makes products made from black Canadian blackknife mink expensive.
As for models, Canadian mink coats are also at their best. Thanks to the consistently high quality of fur, which according to reviews is one of the best in the world, models made from Canadian mink are surprisingly light and airy. Yes, yes, exactly light - thanks to the shortened pile, such a fur coat is even lighter than one made from Scandinavian mink, not to mention Russian or Chinese. It is thanks to this lightness that fashion designers experiment with this mink almost like a fabric, creating exclusive models of straight coats or flowing fur coats, dresses, cocoon models, balloons, and so on (photo).
Further, the texture of this fur allows you to combine it with leather and suede, creating real masterpieces. Therefore, if you want to become the owner of an exclusive model, pay attention to products made from Canadian mink.
How to distinguish Canadian mink
Considering the serious cost of the Canadian mink, it would be useful to determine its true membership in the elite mink family. If you doubt the country of origin of the skins, be sure to look behind the lining and look at the flesh: it should be marked.
Let us remind you that each skin purchased at the Canadian auction NAFA, held three times a year in Toronto, is marked NAFA. This is a mandatory condition, so it will not be difficult for you to distinguish it from other manufacturers. To understand the types of Canadian fur, pay attention to the following types of Canadian mink:
- As we already mentioned, BLACK NAFA is a black mink.
- NAFA MINK is any other mink color except black.
- Just in case, remember that NAFA FOX is a black Canadian fox, and NAFA NORTHERN is other furs from Canada: lynx, raccoon, sable, beaver and others.
Whatever the color of the Canadian mink, its main distinguishing feature for all types remains the same: it is short pile. If all these characteristics coincide, then before you is a genuine masterpiece made of Canadian mink (if, of course, the quality of the model’s tailoring matches the quality of the raw materials, which is important). In such a fur coat you will feel like a real queen for many seasons!
Fur coat Nafa Velvet
The NAFA Velvet line also represents the finest mink furs. Its undoubted difference lies in the abundance of shades of skins, as well as their flexibility for the production of fur products. NAFA Velvet is real velvet for the most sophisticated fur connoisseurs.
Of course, this is far from a budget item. Such a fur coat cannot be cheap; the skins alone cost a fortune, and for a full-fledged product you need at least 40 of them. The NAFA fur coat cannot be found on the market or in the mass market; it is a luxury product and is sold only in fur boutiques. After all, “not all furs are created equally.”
With love, Editorial Board YavMode.ru
