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时尚界很残酷

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It's a jungle out there in the fashion world.


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Going well beyond the leopard prints and fur jackets of recent seasons, the fall 2013 collections in New York featured a menagerie of unusual skins, including kangaroo, ostrich and nutria.










Design team Cushnie et Ochs showed a jacket, a vest and a pencil skirt in kangaroo calfskin. The co-designers, Carly Cushnie and Michelle Ochs, described the texture as lightweight but plush in an email, saying: 'It feels like long-haired velvet, like a teddy bear.'










Proenza Schouler used ostrich for its fall 2013 collection, but not just for feathers. The experimentaldesigner duo, which has made eel skirts in past collections, applied a matte finish to create a dress, a coat and a jacket. And the Row, the line designed by child-celebrities-turned-acclaimed-designers Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, used curly Persian lamb for the collar of a jacket.










The rest of America got a taste of the trend when Beyonce performed her halftime show during the Super Bowl. Her bodysuit was made by New York-based designer Rubin Singer of leather, python, and paneled iguana.










At a time when designer-clothing sales have lagged behind sales of bags and shoes, labels are scrambling to dangle things that seem rare and special in front of consumers. Most consumers are unlikely to have reindeer or kangaroo in their closets.










'It gives an element of the unexpected in the clothing,' said Mr. Singer, who, in addition to python and iguana, has used stingray, lamb and fish skin. He said he is currently working on shearlings in kangaroo. 'It's very luxe; it's not widely used. For me, it gives the cachet of newness and exclusivity.'










Of course, some of these wild pelts may never show up in stores. For mass production, designers sometimes substitute skins that are more common, less expensive or less complex to work with. Designers often determine and adjust prices after their runway shows.










But experimenting with exotic skins can win designers acclaim within their industry. Fashion editors and other insiders praise designers who push the envelope with novel materials and shapes on the runway. Now that almost every designer already uses fur and calfskin, one way to one-up rivals and grab attention is use a rarer animal. Some of these pelts are technically complicated to work with, enabling a designer to take on a creativechallenge and show off his wizardry.










Billy Reid's fall 2013 menswear show included a coat made of sheared nutrias -- semi-aquatic rodents that are plentiful (and considered pests) in Louisiana, where Mr. Reid is from. Another model in the show wore a trench coat with a collar described as 'wild rabbit.' Louis Vuitton went wild for exotic skins in its fall 2013 menswear show, held in Paris in January. The collection included down jackets of reindeer leather, an overcoat of bull leather, and jackets and coats made with yak hair.










Using alternative animal skins is also part of a broader interest in texture in fashion, with designers focusing on touchable materials and intriguing surfaces.










Thakoon featured lambskin in at least eight ensembles in his fall 2013 collection -- with three of those looks printed with a cheetah pattern. Thakoon says he liked the way that using lambskin gave the clothing a plush texture. 'This season I explored using the whole hide and printing on it and using fresh colors to dye the furs,' he says.










It is unclear whether the fashion herd will flock to unusual pelts. The Cushnie et Ochs designers said retailers have responded 'really well' to the kangaroo pieces.










Some fashion consultants say that luxury customers are increasingly interested in the provenance of their clothes, and having a coat made out of reindeer presents an opportunity for bragging rights or at least interesting dinner-party conversation.










'Clothes cost a few bucks, so it adds value to the garment to know what it's about,' says Sharon Graubard, fashion director at trend forecaster Stylesight. But she acknowledges that some consumers might see an 'ick' factor upon hearing, for example, that something is made with iguana. 'It's like fine art; you almost want to be slightly disturbed by it. It's the romance of this item, of telling your friends 'you know what this is? It's kangaroo' and they're like 'Aaaaaah,'' she says, as if a little freaked out yet intrigued.










Some pelts are even given names that sound more exotic than the reality. One popular material, pony hair -- seen, for instance, in a peacoat on menswear designer Todd Snyder's runway -- is actually calfskin with hair.










For women who already own bags and shoes made with alligator, crocodile and python, clothing made of other skins such as kangaroo might not seem like such a leap.










As wild as some of these animals sound, their skins don't jump out at the casual observer. Many designers have created subtly textured styles that often resembleeveryday leathers, furs or wool.










So far, the trend is small enough to escape scrutiny from animal-rights activists, though some have expressed disappointment through social media about the general use of fur on the runways this season.










Actually wearing a novel animal skin might require special attention to its quirks. 'You have to find a really fine dry cleaner,' says Mr. Singer. 'Or the pieces have to be removable.' He adds that iguana is hard to use 'because it's very stiff,' so he uses it more for accents or as fine detail, almost like lace. So why does he go through all the trouble wrestling such animals into fashion? 'Because it's fabulous!'





Ray A. Smith


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