Fur Shops

   Whoever still owns the fabric orders a fur coat these days”. The furriery is located here since the interwar period. The furrier, Mr. Curcan, learnt the art of furriery from his father, who in turn learnt it from the famous Jewish artisans on Colțea street. This workshop is one of the few remaining open. “The fur material is not the same as cloth, that you cut directly and it’s tailored. It has flaws: it’s shot, pierced, has breasts. They need to be removed, because these areas have no fur      

   Mr. Stelian is an old-fasioned artisan, always wearing a costume, who can talk endlessly about the art of furriery and what it means to receive this type of education. Different from furriery is tanning (working with leather), a craft that has been practised for many years by Mr. Antoniu.  

Mrs. Silvia repairs coats, purses, shoes, and on top of that she also knows how to dye them. She has been working here since 1995, but she learnt the craft in highschool. Together with Mrs. Elena, with whom she sometimes collaborates, they fill up the workshop with smiles.  

In the Old Town of Bucharest there are not only restaurants and bars, but also workshops with front stores, such as Nobile Furs Eleni. Once such workshops were the most common services. Now there is only a few left. Mrs. Eleni is Greek, serves her clients in Romanian language and continues the family tradition of trading and repairing furs.

Very close to the Romana Sqare, on Mihai Eminescu St is located since many years a fur shop, very known by those living in the neighbourhood. Behind the orange drapes, the sewing machines redo, modify al sorts of furs. At a first glance the place can look closed, but Mrs Gheorghita works here Monday to Friday from 10-18. The welcoming guest is just like in the old-fashioned workshops, in a different place than the actual workshop where the furs are taken care of, reconditioned, where the old grandma fur gets a new life.

Patterns, wooden lasts, pieces of fabric, rulers, everything that is used in the making, restoration or retouching fur coats we can find here in the workshop located on the old part of Calea Mosilor. The fur workers go around heir daily tasks having above their heads, very close to the ceiling, hanged many fur coats, like in a contemporany art instalation. The fur master, Mr Ion, knows to recognise from a glance a quality fur and can transforme an old one perfectly on the sizes of the new owner. This workshop is one of the last remained on this part of the old street, where only the noise of the tram reminds of how busy the street once used to be.