Thorunn Howatt
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 13/02) - Northern fur crowned a royal head last month when hats from a collection by Yellowknife milliner Kristine Bourque were part of a Team Canada trade mission.

Yellowknife's Kristine Bourque models with some of the creations she fashions from fur. - Thorunn Howatt/NNSL photo

"They really liked my hats," said Bourque, who is the designer and operator of the fur fashion business Just Furs. "A princess wanted one."

She was referring to German Princess Ursula von Hohenlohe-Oehringen.

The Yellowknife hatmaker designs and sews vogue headwear from Northern furs and skins. Germans went mad for her hats during the presentation in Munich showcasing furs, diamonds and culinary delights from Canada. Now she is waiting for orders for her creations.

Kristine Bourque's mother had a flair for fashion. Her father was a trapper, so it's only natural that the Yellowknife seamstress designs fashions from fur. She worked in an Inuvik sewing centre making parkas in the '70s.

"That's where I started making my livelihood," she said.

But it was after she took a fur design course in Toronto that she got a sincere start. About 10 years ago she bought a special fur sewing machine with an equipment grant from the government. The machine is worth about $4,500. Now she specializes in warm and fashionable fur hats as well as headbands, earmuffs, collars and mittens.

"Right now I sell a number of hats through the airport gift shop and some at Northern Images," she said, adding that Raven Tours' Japanese customers love her sheared beaver designs. Cross-fox, wolf, seal, coyote and beaver are used to make the hundreds of trendy toppers that sell for between $130 and $400.

"And I've sold hundreds of earmuffs," she said, laughing. But the latest trend is sheared beaver. The short, plush fur makes up about 40 per cent of her total sales lately. "Another thing I sell a lot of is sheared beaver mitts."

Customers' reactions to them surprised her because they don't look as fancy as they feel. They have a leather outer layer with exposed seams.

"But when you put your hands inside, it's like 'I want those mitts,'" said Bourque.

This year fur sales have jumped and fur fashion is making a comeback. Earlier this month Northern furs were sold at a fur harvester's auction.

The top price was fetched by a wolverine pelt at $565.20.

Europeans are embracing fur again, with fur collars being worn on jean jackets in Munich, said Francois Rossouw, fur management co-ordinator for the territorial government.

Before travelling to Germany, Bourque's designs were a hit at an earlier trade mission to Dallas, Texas.

Bourque is now involved in a project to market her fur fashions on the Internet.

She hopes to take advantage of the returning popularity and acceptance of furs.