As a second Arctic chill breaks across the U.S. following a busy holiday season fur retailers report strong business.    “Since the election we’ve seen strong customer traffic ,” reports Marcie Rea of Marcella Furs in Amarillo, TX.  “It began with early gift shopping with fur accessories playing a key role.  But as the weather began to break we saw a big upsurge in the sale of fashion outerwear with sheared mink and shearling leading the way, “ Ms. Rea added.  “And men’s coats have really been moving too, including fur-trimmed cloth and leathers and shearlings.”   According to Missy Love of Alaskan Fur in Overland Park, KS it looks to be a strong season.  “We’ve had some cold weather here and customers have been coming in to buy something fashionable and warm,” she reports.  “This, on top of strong holiday gifts sales suggests we will have a good year.”   Fur’s unique abilities to protect against bitter winds and snow and its ability to act as an insulator, reducing heat transfer and holding warm air in close to the body makes it ideal for cold weather wear.  And fortunately, for fall/winter 2016 – 2017 designers gave us an extraordinary array of great fur fashion choices sure to deliver cold weather chic.  From jaw-droppingly beautiful intarsia mink coats to cheeky fox chubbies, robust shearlings, sumptuous sables or luxe lynx, this season is full of great outerwear meant to make the right style statement.    For the guys there are plenty of great ways to fight the cold too.  This season men’s fur fashion options range from a more rugged appeal to polished and sophisticated looks for the dapperest of Dans.  Retailers report strong sales in menswear too, with Marcie Rea noting that she has already had to reorder in several menswear categories to fill holes in inventory.   Fur hats, scarves and gloves protect heat from escaping, providing a warm, fashionable and affordable way to fight the cold and add a dash of luxe to any wardrobe. These easy-to-fit garments generated strong gift sales at most retailers leading up to Christmas and continue to move quickly as the cold weather spreads across the U.S.   “When the news of the Arctic blast hit it is like someone turned on a switch and we saw customers coming in like crazy for everything from remodels to vintage to new fur fashion,” reports Steve Cowit of Madison Avenue Furs in New York,”  He added, “we also see a lot of tourists coming in who arrived in New York unprepared for the weather.  Hats, scarves and headbands have been strong.”   Nick Pologeorgis, President of Pologeorgis Furs in New York adds that fashion has been a big driver of his business for this season.  “The cold weather has certainly helped sales and we are seeing an uptick in the sale of mink coats.  But the real growth has been with our Pologeorgis collection, a fun, fashion-forward collection at a price point.   We are seeing an entirely new customer excited about fur.”   For the daily buzz on the latest  fur fashion, designer and trend insight, visit FurInsider.com(www.FurInsider.com).    The Fur Information Council of America (FICA) is a not for profit trade association promoting the fur industry through media, education and legislative work at the national and state level.  Membership is made up of fur manufacturers and retailers in the U.S. and Canada.