Fair Date: 25 February to 28 February 2011 (4-day exhibition)
Opening Hours:
25 February 9:00 am - 6:00 pm
26-27 February 9:00 am - 7:00 pm
28 February 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Venue: Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre
Website: www.hkff.org

Summary:
2011 Hong Kong International Fur & Fashion Fair (xiāng gǎng guó jì pí máo zhǎn 香港国际皮毛展) - A prestigious Fur Fair that is widely recognized by global industry players as the most essential platform for sourcing quality fur garments and raw materials.

Man and Fur:
Man has always used the products of other species, and most people recognize our right to do so provided we behave responsibly and with respect, and ensure that natural productivity and habitats are not damaged. Modern society feels a particular impulse to ensure that the animals we use, whether for food, clothing, medical research, sport or pets, are treated humanely and with consideration. The fur industry, whilst rejecting the attempts by animal rights campaigners to penalize people who wish to wear fur, has long recognized that farming and trapping techniques must take account of the scientific advice on welfare – and has invested major sums in research to this end.
Though necessarily expensive, fur remains a supreme example of a fashion product that derives from a wholly natural sustainable resource, is long-lasting but ultimately biodegradable, delivers rare benefits in sustaining fragile communities and habitats, and which embodies traditions of human craftsmanship that few other modern products possess.

History:
Fur has been traded for thousands of years, and the need to satisfy growing demand explains key developments in modern history. Furs were traded by the Phoenicians and other ancient Mediterranean civilizations. The search for fine skins (including sable) lay behind Russia's push eastwards in the 17th century, beyond the Urals into Siberia and the Pacific regions. The early history of North America turns around the commercial need to satisfy European demand, initially for beaver, leading to intense competition between French and English adventurers, traders and eventually governments.
Aboriginal Americans caught and supplied the furs for this trade, and sold food and supplies to the traders. The fur trade was one of the few sectors of the European economy in which aboriginal hungers could participate while maintaining and reinforcing their traditional lifestyle and cultural values.
Even today – and marking the strong link with history that characterises many aspects of fur – the trade is important for the livelihoods of many aboriginal Canadians, Alaskans, ‘Cajun' Louisianans and Siberians. Many areas supportive of fur-bearing species are unsuited to agricultural development, and a bush-oriented lifestyle remains a viable, and sometime the only economic alterative. About one half of Canada's 80,000 trappers are aboriginals – Indians, Metis or Inuit.

Organizer: Hong Kong Fur Federation

Contacts:
Address: Rm. 1203, Chevalier House 45 –51 Chatham Road South Tsimshatsui, Kowloon.
Tel: (852) 2367 4646
Fax: (852) 2739 0799
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