Following a stellar 2017, Italian affordable luxury brand FURLA has announced it has stopped using animal fur. Presented in a set up in Milan’s Brera, the new footwear Furla’s newest collection dropped all real fur from its collections.
“I like the idea of using elements of active sport because that’s one element in our life where we really think of ourselves,” explained Fabio Fusi, the brand’s finely mannered creative director.
Furla’s new footwear are in synch with the current sporting zeitgeist where the stars of mega football teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid and Liverpool wear sock-sneakers that are lace free and hyper linear. Though Fusi takes them somewhere else with punchy primary and chewing gum colors, and by adding chunky ergonomic heels, and its brand name on an upper ankle stripe.
“To see this striscia (sporty stripe) makes me feel well. Because the greatest luxury is time devoted to ourselves,” says Fusi, who practices running and tennis, as he splits his time between Palazzo Furla in Milan and factories in Chianti.
“I live there and I am a real Tuscan,” adds Fusi. Unlike Furla which was founded in Bologna in 1927 by Aldo Furlanetto, whose descendants still own the company. Ninety years later, Furla has grown to employ 1,600 people, 90% of them women, from over 100 countries. It’s a very Italian global success story.
“Materials are importantissima. The collection must be street but always elegant and precious – that’s part of our story,” says Fusi of the blend of almost sartorial wools and coated nylons that feel like soft PVC. All finished with upbeat colors or sporty graphics and florals.
“We remain grounded to leather, it’s an essential part of our DNA, but we stopped using real fur this season,” explains Fusi, a graduate of the famed Academia delle Arti in Florence.
“I could have been a fine artist, but took the direction of fashion, which is easy in Florence. Anyway, Furla is nearer to design than fashion,” concludes Fusi.

FURLA WonderFurla Collection
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