In an increasingly PETA-policed world (the organization's most recent coup involved turning the fur-loving Mary Kate and Ashley into the "Trollsen Twins" on their website), a chinchilla coat rescued from the attic might not hold quite the same the sex appeal it did a few decades ago.
Enter Bella Bear Co., a company that turns recycled vintage furs into some of the softest teddy bears you'll ever get your hands on. "When I was 17, I happened to come upon an old ripped fur at a garage sale and thought it would make an interesting bear, said Julie Lamarre, who started the company and named it after her daughter, Isabella.
"I had a customer at a craft show who saw it and asked if I could use her mother's stole to make a bear, and the rest is history." Old furs are cleaned, preserved, and then recycled to become a family heirloom for people who don't feel comfortable wearing their furs in public.
Teddy bears are made from mink, beaver, fox, Persian lamb, and, in one case, three separate coats that eventually formed a five-foot bear that was part of a proposal (she said yes!)
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