Kanjeevaram and fur just dont go together!

Several women were part of Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs delegation to Moscow for his 24-hour visit, but not one woman wore fur. Not even faux fur. And this in a city that revels in its fur fashion.

By Smita Prakash

Moscow, Nov.13 : Several women were part of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's delegation to Moscow for his 24-hour visit, but not one woman wore fur. Not even faux fur. And this in a city that revels in its fur fashion.

The Prime Minister's wife, Mrs Gursharan Kaur, wore a black woolen overcoat most of the day, while Dr. Manmohan Singh preferred a grey woollen coat.

His colleagues were all men, no fur there. And the media team which had a record ten women teamed their outfits with leather or woollen coats to beat the -7 degrees Celsius weather. Not one of them owned a mink coat. It's kind of hard to combine mink with Kanjeevaram or Banarasi sarees which is as dressy as a woman journalist gets.

But ask a Russian woman what is her idea of a perfect gift and you are most likely to get a reply " a mink coat".

No apologies here for anti-fur lobbyists. Russians love their fur. It comes in all colours and cuts and length. Calvin Klien, Jean Paul Gaultier, Roberto Cavalli or Oscar de la Renta, most international labels have experimented with fur this year.

Basic colours like black,grey and white are popular, but one can even spot a yellow or an orange in shop windows this year.

Seems bizarre, but hey its fashion. And it doesn't come cheap. From 200,000 roubles to 500,000 roubles, it can burn a deep hole in one's pocket.

So far, Indo-Western wear hasn't dabbled with fur, maybe a fox collar or a cuff, but that's about it.

ANI