To enter Yves Salomon’s Paris headquarters is to enter a Narnia that’s all wardrobe and no snow. The complex, in a creative pocket of the tenth arrondissement, is home to the 93-year-old brand's immense inventory of furs, as well as its showroom, atelier, and research and development studio, where a team of 15 work in-house to develop the newest in fur techniques (that the likes of Dior, Prada, and Vuitton clamor after). Now at the helm is Thomas Salomon, great-grandson of founder Gregory Salomon, who seeks to broaden Yves Salomon’s renown beyond Paris couture.
I visited the eponymous house of fur à propos its new collaboration with Opening Ceremony on a line of army parkas lined with fur in eye-popping colors. Thomas and I discussed his family's pioneer spirit, the future of fox versus faux, and the differences between Paris and New York, before touring what they call The Cave—a stock of thousands of furs and skins yet to be fashioned into garments. “Careful they don’t bite,” he cautioned…
Shop men's and women's Yves Salomon for Opening Ceremony | View the editorial here
Emma McCormick-Goodhart: How and where do you source your fur?
Thomas Salomon: We buy the furs in auctions. The main auctions are in Denmark for the mink, Finland for the fox, Russia for the sable, and Toronto in Canada for all the white fur and American minks.
The history of Yves Salomon the brand is also the history of your family. How has the pioneer spirit of your great-grandfather, who founded the house, filtered down?
My great-grandfather began in Russia [in 1910]. He had been deported to Siberia, where he started to deal furs. Then he brought all his family to Paris along with his furs and he was a pioneer because he became the biggest skin dealer [in the city]. My father was a pioneer because he began ready-to-wear fur. He worked with designers and he launched his own line at the same time. More recently, I said to my father, “You know, being just a fur manufacturer, my future is not going to be very bright. Let’s try to build a brand.” That’s how we opened our first store in 2007 on Rue Saint-Honoré.
Yves Salomon has a long history of collaborating with designers like Mugler, Alaïa, and Prada. How important is that to your philosophy?
It's thanks to collaborations that we have such a modern image. They push us to be very advanced technically and it gives us an advance on everyone. We manage a team of 15 young people that do only research and development on new techniques on fur. And that’s why designers are coming to work with us because in terms of technique, we are the best.
What’s really interesting is the age [of our employees]. You would think that because we’re in fur we would be old, but the average age here is 30. It’s a young company with a very long history.
How did the collaboration with Opening Ceremony come about?
It has been quite a few seasons that we’ve sold our parkas at Opening Ceremony. I think this year, we wanted to give them a little push and make something special, so we said let's do something with pop colors.
What’s the most exciting new fur technique?
We are working for next season on reusing leftove
I visited the eponymous house of fur à propos its new collaboration with Opening Ceremony on a line of army parkas lined with fur in eye-popping colors. Thomas and I discussed his family's pioneer spirit, the future of fox versus faux, and the differences between Paris and New York, before touring what they call The Cave—a stock of thousands of furs and skins yet to be fashioned into garments. “Careful they don’t bite,” he cautioned…
Shop men's and women's Yves Salomon for Opening Ceremony | View the editorial here
Emma McCormick-Goodhart: How and where do you source your fur?
Thomas Salomon: We buy the furs in auctions. The main auctions are in Denmark for the mink, Finland for the fox, Russia for the sable, and Toronto in Canada for all the white fur and American minks.
The history of Yves Salomon the brand is also the history of your family. How has the pioneer spirit of your great-grandfather, who founded the house, filtered down?
My great-grandfather began in Russia [in 1910]. He had been deported to Siberia, where he started to deal furs. Then he brought all his family to Paris along with his furs and he was a pioneer because he became the biggest skin dealer [in the city]. My father was a pioneer because he began ready-to-wear fur. He worked with designers and he launched his own line at the same time. More recently, I said to my father, “You know, being just a fur manufacturer, my future is not going to be very bright. Let’s try to build a brand.” That’s how we opened our first store in 2007 on Rue Saint-Honoré.
Yves Salomon has a long history of collaborating with designers like Mugler, Alaïa, and Prada. How important is that to your philosophy?
It's thanks to collaborations that we have such a modern image. They push us to be very advanced technically and it gives us an advance on everyone. We manage a team of 15 young people that do only research and development on new techniques on fur. And that’s why designers are coming to work with us because in terms of technique, we are the best.
What’s really interesting is the age [of our employees]. You would think that because we’re in fur we would be old, but the average age here is 30. It’s a young company with a very long history.
How did the collaboration with Opening Ceremony come about?
It has been quite a few seasons that we’ve sold our parkas at Opening Ceremony. I think this year, we wanted to give them a little push and make something special, so we said let's do something with pop colors.
What’s the most exciting new fur technique?
We are working for next season on reusing leftove