On the sides of Milan fashion week FW15, both real and fake fur were the weightiest of fabrics at two of the city’s premier trade shows - Mipap and Super Pitti. Held adjacently at Milano Fiera City, organizers recorded a rise in overall show attendance but felt the blow of a murky international presence from major markets - Russia and the U.S. Mipap exhibited 170 collections to 4,065 visitors - an 8% gain from last year, according to a note by Enrico Pazzali, managing director of Fiera Milano. Some 22% of visitors came from abroad. The presence of Japanese and South Korean buyers was stable, while the numbers of American buyers were slightly higher, despite attendance still fairly small. Eastern European buyers reported a decrease: the only rise in numbers was from the Czech Republic and Poland. Russian buyers in attendance attributed the economic situation of their country for their lack of representation. Giorgia & Johns’ glamrock theme saw fur ripen over their denim capsule collection. Fake fur fabrics cut into jackets, while fur gilets sat feminine popping on the mostly black range. Another best-in-fur offering was Danive’. Designer Valentina Cremona chose texture-rich fabrics and prints to house her fur. The standout – a super modernized parka updated with shades of cyclamen and strawberry, lined with super soft pelt. Next door at Super Pitti, the fifth edition closed with 6,000 buyers, some 20% foreign, reflecting a 3% increase from the last edition. From the 200 brands, 30% were from abroad, 60% were accessories and 40% were fashion labels. The fair, produced by Fiera Milano and Pitti Immagine, reported buyer numbers lifted from the French (6%), Germans (27%), British (25%) and the Dutch (30%). Slight gains from China and the U.S. were offset by Russia’s flat attendance. In total, ten international markets were in attendance: Japan, Switzerland, France, Germany, Spain, Greece, China, Russia, Austria, Belgium, South Korea and U.S. As an export commodity for Italy, fur has been a shaky one in recent years. From 2013 to 2014, Italian fur exports to Russia - formerly Italy’s largest export market - plunged 29% to 33.5m euros, or $35.8m, according to a Pricewaterhouse Coopers study for the Italian fur organization Associazione Italiana Pellicceria. Exports to Ukraine in the same period plunged 57% to 5.3m euros, or $5.6m. PwC estimated that the crisis in the region, including commercial restrictions, were responsible for 3 to 4% of a 7.4% contraction to 1.1bn euros ($1.17bn) seen from 2013 to 2014 in Italian fur production. More specifically, Russia’s woes and many Chinese failing to show at international auctions during the 2014-buying season saw pelt prices crumble in 2014. But mink was hit the harshest, recording a whopping 52% drop in price from 2013 to 2014, according to PwC. Meanwhile, at fashion week this season, the Mifur trade fair in Milan stayed true to its goal - giving back a comprehensive look at global fur trends for 2016. According to the fur tradeshow, garments will look to more conservative cuts next year, with a focus on timeless, classic silhouettes but with bold patterns and colors.Key macro-trends from Mifur were: Colored Dream: Cropped biker furs in shorn mink, carrying tangerine, diesel green and grey blue. Lighting bolt patterns and pastel hued minks are key. Urban Run: Urban chic parkas with silver fox hoods, as well as an army green bomber with brown mink hood and pockets. Varsity jacket minks; and a sleeveless hoodie in cashmere and Astrakhan, with mink lapels and hood starred. Nordic Underground: Minimalism featured with full-length, unstructured tailoring, with blue and black intarsia-Astrakhan coat; oversize sleeves in black and burgundy-patterned mink; and a white mink poncho – striped. Nightlight: Finally, neon highlighted a black sleeveless silver fox coat with yellow, blue, and pink grass-look puffs.