Auctions Our Company Sustainability Inspiration Login Contact Press Language: English Our company About us Saga Furs 80 years heritage Saga Furs 80 years heritage 31 October 2018 Saga Furs celebrating 80 years – The fur industry leader and the most responsible choice In celebration of our 80th anniversary this year, we want to recap the most important milestones from different decades. The Saga Furs auction house was founded in 1938 by the Finnish Fur Breeder’s Association. The first local auctions took place in the 40s – laying the cornerstones for the international brand and auction house of today. By the 1950’s the first international fur auctions were held in Finland and Saga Furs started to establish its reputation as a quality brand and the premiere partner for the fashion industry. To develop the quality of the fur, shows were organized to grade the animals. Since 1953, the international competition for pelts has been organized annually. Saga pioneered during 1960’s in improving its business operations and made significant investments in animal feed and breeding. This ensured the high quality characteristics of the pelts that Saga Furs has become known for at the same time as the brand was associated with high fashion and trusted partnerships. In the 1970’s through competitions Saga Furs inspired a whole new generation of designers, who started testing new techniques. In the 1980’s Saga Furs opens the doors to its newly built Fur Center in Finland and hosted the first auction at its new premises. It also becomes the first fur company to go public when it was listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange in 1986. Saga Furs Design Centre opened its doors in 1988. During these years Saga furs also entered the Chinese market. In the beginning of 1990, Saga Furs started developing the Sampo programme, the breeding tool for producers to registrate breeding animals and their genealogy. During the late 1990’s automated grading machines further improved the reliability of Saga Grading System. The Design Centre became the first to innovate with fur in home décor. Saga Furs launched ‘Fur Vision’ event in New York in 2000 to transport the Design Centre’s innovation and new techniques to fashion capitals around the globe. New York’s success was followed by similar events in Milan, Paris and London. Saga Certification began in 2005 when Saga Furs teamed up with the Finnish Fur Breeders’ Association to initiate ground-breaking standards for fur farming. This was also the decade when Saga launched the first Traceability System that enables to trace the material in a garment back to the farm of origin. In 2008 Saga Furs introduced the industry’s first CSR policy and also in 2008 Saga Furs lead the industry again by joining the United Nation’s Global Compact initiative for responsible corporate policies. In 2010’s a significant milestones in Asia were reached, when the Fur Vision Asia was launched. In 2018 Saga Furs launched a training program at BIFTPARK Haining to extend Saga’s fur innovation and craftsmanship to the creative talents for the future in China. The breeding programme Sampo was taken to the millennial level in 2013 when WebSambo was launched as a web-based tool accessed through Saga extranet. Where we are today? The Saga Certification and Traceability System: The world recognises Saga Furs as the ethical pioneer of sustainable and responsible practices. Saga Grading System is known as the best in the industry today. Saga Furs works closely with more than 23 international design schools. More than 30 000 visitors have enjoyed the Design Centre experience and as a result roughly 70% of all runway collections show fur. As a result of all previous milestones mentioned the sales of Saga Furs skins has grown tremendously over the years. From 70s 3 million skins to 10,2 million skins last fiscal year. Saga Furs Oyj P.O. Box 4 FIN-01601 Vantaa Finland Visiting address: Martinkyläntie 48 Vantaa, Finland Find us on a map Phone +358 9 84981 Company identification code: 0115411-6 VAT: FI01154116 Copyright © Saga Furs 2020 Data Privacy Terms and conditions