FURS: Oscar de la Renta was not pleased to be the recipient of a tofu pie in the face twice in the last year from PETA agitators protesting the use of fur in his fashion collections. But PETA protestors may have been misguided in choosing their target. While Oscar de la Renta's name may be on the label, it is actually New York-based furrier Alixandre that creates the designer's products and subsequently turns out one of the most elegant and fashionable fur collections on the market.

The 77-year-old fur wholesaler and manufacturer, run today by second- and third-generation members of the Schulman family, is one of the most respected for its skin selection and production techniques. It is also one of the few completely vertical operations in fur manufacturing - the firm sources its own raw materials, designs, and manufactures at its production facility near Rome.

The company also has a pipeline to some of the finest mink, broadtail, lynx, fox, sheared beaver, and sable, built through many years of developing strong personal relationships. For this reason alone, designers like Valentino, Joseph Abboud, Koos Van Den Akker, and of course Oscar de la Renta have called on Alixandre to help them become some of the industry's top fur traders.