Fox Unlimited’s chief designer Natasha Tarnovskaya visited Saga Furs Design Centre to gather ideas for the brand she launched under the company umbrella. The Tasha Tarno brand has been growing from a New York base out to international markets.

Natasha Tarnovskaya was all smiles when she told about what a hit her Tasha Tarno line was after it was shown just a few days prior for the first time in her native Russia. The garments sold out, and “surprisingly enough,” some short-sleeved items she had created were a big hit. “It’s youthful,” she says about the look, “and there’s a big market out there.”  The US chain Century 21 was one of the first to pick up on the Tasha Tarno line.

The basic premise for creating her own line is how she is inspired by what she likes. “If it’s something I would feel comfortable in, then I will go ahead and make it.” Tarnovskaya tells how she is not focusing on evening dress, but rather a fashionable everyday look for the modern woman who carries keys and a cell phone in her pocket. Practicality is never overlooked. “Like the knitted piece I did, something like a bathrobe with a belt,” she points out. “I showed it to my twenty-two-year-old assistant and she loved it.”

Another consideration is price. “A whole fur garment can be too expensive for some, but if you combine it with knit, then it’s within reach. So I chose some fabrics and did just that,” she says.

A designer emerges
Tarnovskaya started with Fox Unlimited six years ago after working as a project manager for a Russian oil company. When she arrived in New York a year before starting with her current employer, her first job was in sales where, “I tried to introduce new ideas, but nobody listened.” Her previous work experiences helped her to further develop relationships with the Fox Unlimited network, which includes customers such as Bergdorf Goodman, Lord & Taylor and Nieman Marcus.

Three years ago she began designing in earnest. “What I am basically doing is focusing on existing fur pieces and attempting to transform them into forward-looking fashion,” she says. “I examined what detailing we could put on existing garments, such as long sweaters, parkas, and coats with hoods, and I added new designs. There are rich possibilities for adding fur trim and creating a sleek silhouette, pieces that are modern, wearable, fashionable, and most of all, new! —nobody else has them.”

Extending knowledge and a line
While at Saga Furs Design Centre she concentrated on innovation. An important element of her visit to Saga Furs Design Centre was sharing inspiring ideas with a couple of other designers who were there on a seminar. “She was looking at ideas for new types of trim and new accessories that would be easy to make, saleable and not costly to produce. We helped her make three prototypes and she took a lot of pictures, and before she departed Natasha said we would be hearing from her as she will probably have some questions about manufacturing the techniques we use here at the Workshop,” says fur technician Susanne Falkencrone, who helped Tarnovskaya at the Saga Furs Design Centre Workshop.

Fox Unlimited has an established network of suppliers with the ability to produce fur fashions from sketches and patterns. They also have the capacity for bigger manufacturing runs.

“Fox Unlimited customers are increasingly ordering Saga Furs hang tags. In fact, we distributed around 30,000 tags to two of their customers. This is a result of our Corporate Social Responsibility program and its importance for textile companies as well as retailers,” says Saga Furs North America representative Charlie Ross. “

Creative break from hectic routine
Although Tarnovskaya describes a workday as leaving home and arriving at an office that is like a family home, there are only four people at Fox Unlimited and they must look after all facets of the business. So, a visit to Saga Furs Design Centre—and the triumph in Russia—was a well-deserved break for her.

“When I am in New York there is really no time to create designs, as I am busy overseeing various production processes,” she says. “I want to learn more about how I can involve fabric in fur and make it fashionable. Combinations of fur and fabric or feathers can sell and there are possibilities for mass production.  But I needed to take time off to learn, so it’s good to be able to spend a lot of time viewing and working on samples here.”