A Run on Alligators Sends Designers Scrambling
COVINGTON, La. -- It's one of fashion's most successful looks right now: alligator skin on everything from luggage to $10,000 handbags. But unexpected aftereffects from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita are upending the market for alligator hides.
Big-name designers are jockeying to lock up supplies. The swamps of Louisiana provide an estimated 85% of the world's gator skins. Though the harvest was close to normal last fall, state wildlife officials say saltwater floods damaged foliage that alligators use to build nests.
Fewer nests could translate to fewer gators laying eggs this summer. That could reduce the harvest in future years -- making it tougher for handbag makers to bag the skins they need. "We just won't know until we go out there this summer," says Noel Kinler, Louisiana's alligator program manager.
Tipping the Scales: The price on Ralph Lauren's alligator Ricky bag leaped 17% this year.
Now Ralph Lauren is exploring longer-term contracts to ensure access to the skins it needs. Speculators have bought up extra hides, which local farmers say has pushed prices up. Other designers are monitoring the market and even switching to crocodile.
For luxury-goods makers, it's a worrisome uncertainty at a time when high demand has already driven up prices for gator hides. Skins from Louisiana's fall harvest averaged $34.50 a foot, up 53% from $22.50 in fall 2004.
At Polo Ralph Lauren, the stakes are high. The alligator Ricky bag, named after Ralph Lauren's wife, is one of the company's hottest items. Buyers are on waiting lists for the bag, and the company recently raised the price by $2,000 to $14,000. The company is currently in talks with a big alligator farmer about a multi-year deal to lock in prices and quantities, say people familiar with the discussions.
Alligator skin is a big look for other designers. At Louis Vuitton, new ads feature model Gisele Bündchen holding an alligator trimmed handbag. Designer J. Mendel, known for evening gowns, made a $21,000 white alligator jacket for fall 2005; it sold out. Ferragamo is pushing $14,000 made-to-order "polo" boots. More styles are on the way: At New York Fashion Week last month, Chado Ralph Rucci sent models down the runway wearing alligator skirts, dresses with curved alligator panels and a long alligator coat.
Speculators are adding to the price pressure. Zachary Casey, a Covington, La., alligator farmer, says he stockpiled extra skins in the fall by buying them from fellow dealers. That helped drive up the price, according to others in the business. For instance, Mr. Casey offered Dane Ledet, a Houma, La., farmer and dealer, about $45 a foot for his skins. Mr. Ledet says an Italian tannery eventually topped that offer. Mr. Casey is "why I got $50 a foot," says Mr. Ledet.
Swimming With the Big Boys: Older gators splash in one of the deep water pens that Pelts & Skins owner Zachary Casey uses to help grow the reptiles beyond the four feet most farmers do before release or slaughter. The bigger skins are used for products like handbags.
Of course, the feared reduction in Louisiana's alligator supply might simply fail to materialize. Even if the number of eggs produced this year falls off, the full effects wouldn't be felt for years. Alligators can grow to about four feet in length in a year, but at that size the skins are usually used only for smaller items, such as watchbands, change purses and small handbags. It takes several more years for the gators to reach a length suitable for bigger bags.
But industry and wildlife officials say just the possibility of a shortage has been enough to pump up prices, particularly given the recent strong demand. Much as a threat of war can drive up oil prices, the gator market is already feeling the potential consequences of the hurricanes.
A few elite labels -- notably Hermès and Gucci -- have preferential access to alligator skins that should assure their supplies. That's because these makers own stakes in big tanneries that process alligator along with other kinds of hides. Those tanneries are big customers and have more buying power.
"Alligator is a very important item for us," says Francis Chauveau, deputy general manager of industrial affairs at Hermès International, which owns the Gordon-Choisy tannery in Montereau, France, and 49% of Tannery des Cuirs d'Indochine et de Madagascar, or TCIM, another French tannery. TCIM owns Roggwiller Tannery of Louisiana, based in Lafayette, La.
Makers who don't own hide processors are more at the mercy of the market. At Judith Leiber, a $1,495 bag called Slim Octagon is a popular seller and uses alligator skin dyed to a pinkish shade called "sorbet." The company says it's monitoring the skin supply closely -- and has already started shifting some production to crocodile, which is indistinguishable from alligator to most people.
"The big labels are buying a lot of alligator and squeezing some of the smaller producers out," says Robert Vignola, chief executive of Judith Leiber.
American Tanning & Leather, a Griffin, Ga., concern that processes and dyes raw alligator skins, says it has heard from about two dozen companies seeking to reserve skins, says Christine Plott Redd, the tannery's director of sales. "If you want to compete with those major players that's what you have to do," says Ms. Plott Redd, who took a $25,000 deposit from a luggage maker last fall.
Alligator skins are an estimated $40 million a year business in Louisiana. The industry depends on an elaborate wildlife management program, which revived the reptile population from around 100,000 animals in the early 1960s to about 1.5 million today, state wildlife officials say.
Dyed and "glazed" alligator skins at American Tanning & Leather.
Skins come from both farmed and wild alligators. After gators lay their eggs this spring, farmers will collect them in early summer. To locate the eggs, farmers fly over the wetlands in helicopters and mark the location of nests using global positioning systems and stakes. They return later in airboats to collect the eggs by hand, typically paying land owners about $10 an egg.
When farmed gators reach four feet in length, some are slaughtered. The state requires farmers to release 14% of that size of farmed alligators back to the wild to sustain the breeding population -- attempts to get gators to lay eggs in captivity haven't been successful. Those gators grow larger and are sought in the annual September hunt, when more than 30,000 alligators measuring seven feet or longer are caught and killed (usually by a gunshot to the head).
Prices are determined by measuring skins across the belly, the most valuable part because it is flat and soft. A typical large skin -- measuring 75 centimeters across -- can fetch $8 a centimeter, or about $600 for a whole skin. The back, which has bumpy ridges, often winds up on Western boots. The meat retails for about $7.50 a pound and comprises 10% to -15% of farmers' revenue. (Emeril Lagasse's "Alligator Sauce Piquante," a popular Creole dish, is featured on the Food Network's Web site.)
Given the money at stake, farmers have been looking for ways to accelerate the growth of gators. Mr. Casey, the farmer in Covington, says he has started growing alligators to lengths of seven feet in three years. Like other alligator farmers, he puts the cold-blooded animals in big pools of warm water, to speed their metabolism and increase their food intake. Instead of killing or releasing all of them when they reach four feet, Mr. Casey puts many of them into deeper pools to grow larger. Three years ago, he built barns to house these alligators at a cost of $5 million, he says.
In New York, designer Barry Kieselstein-Cord says he has passed along some of his price increases to consumers. But higher prices haven't lowered demand for his alligator bags, belts and shoes, he says. Particularly in countries with a rising wealthy class, like Russia and China, alligator is a big seller. Wearing an alligator accessory "is a way of showing you have arrived at a certain level of income," he says.
鳄鱼皮成时尚新宠供货商家待价而沽
眼下时装界的一大看点就是：美洲鳄鱼皮出现在众多的服饰中，从鳄鱼皮皮箱到售价10,000美元的手包。而卡特里娜飓风(Katrina)和丽塔飓风(Rita)带来的意外后果使得美洲鳄鱼皮市场的行情更加火爆。
大牌设计师正在想方设法保证供应。路易斯安那州的沼泽地提供了全球85%左右的美洲鳄鱼皮。尽管去年秋季的美洲鳄鱼皮产量基本保持正常水平，但该州的野生部门官员称，海水的侵袭毁坏了美洲鳄鱼构筑巢穴的植被。
巢穴的减少意味著今年夏季产卵的美洲鳄鱼数量将会下降。这可能会导致今后几年鳄鱼产量的减少，从而使手包厂家更难以获得所需的美洲鳄鱼皮。路易斯安那州的美洲鳄鱼项目经理诺埃尔?金勒(Noel Kinler)说，在今年夏天实地考察前还不清楚情况会怎样。
现在Ralph Lauren正在寻求签订长期合同，以保证能够获得所需的美洲鳄鱼皮。投机者买进了大量美洲鳄鱼皮，当地的农民称这推动了价格的上涨。一些设计师正在密切关注市场的变化，甚至转向了其他种类的鳄鱼皮。
对于奢侈品生产商而言，在需求已经将美洲鳄鱼皮价格推高的情况下，这种不确定性就更加令人担忧。路易斯安那州秋季美洲鳄鱼皮的平均价格已经达到每英尺34.50美元，比2004年秋季的22.50美元上涨了53%。
Polo Ralph Lauren在这方面下了很大的力气。用美洲鳄鱼皮制作的Ricky皮包是该公司最热销的商品之一。买家都在排队等待这款皮包，该公司最近也将其价格调高了2,000美元，至14,000美元。知情人士称，该公司目前正在同一家大型鳄鱼养殖场谈判签订多年协议，以锁定供货价格和数量。
其他设计师也在美洲鳄鱼皮上各显其能。在路易-威登(Louis Vuitton)，新广告突出了模特吉珊勒?芭群(Gisele Bundchen)手挽美洲鳄鱼皮手包的形象。以设计晚礼服闻名的设计师门德尔(J. Mendel)为2005年秋季制作了一套售价21,000美元的白色鳄鱼皮夹克，而且已经售出。Ferragamo推出了按订单制作的售价14,000美元的polo皮靴。更多的款式也纷来沓至：在上个月的纽约时装周上，Chado Ralph Rucci的模特展示了鳄鱼皮裙装、长大衣和带有鳄鱼皮装饰的服装。
投机者进一步加大了目前的价格压力。路易斯安那州的美洲鳄鱼养殖主扎加利?凯西(Zachary Casey)说，他在秋季时从同行那里购买了不少鳄鱼皮并囤积起来。其他人表示，这也导致了价格的上涨。比如，凯西收购另一位养殖主达内?勒代(Dane Ledet)的鳄鱼皮的报价为每英尺45美元左右。不过勒代说，一家意大利皮革商最终提出了更高的报价。
当然，对路易斯安那州美洲鳄鱼皮供应量将会下降的担心可能并不会变成现实。即使今年的产卵数量下降，所带来的影响在今后几年内也难以全面感受到。鳄鱼在一年时间里能够长到4英尺左右，但这种长度的鳄鱼皮一般只能加工表带、钱包和小手包等较小的物品。鳄鱼要生长多年才能达到加工较大皮包的长度。
但业内人士和野生动植物官员表示，仅仅是出现短缺的这种可能性就足以推高价格，尤其是在目前需求强劲的情况下。如同爆发战争的威胁导致油价飙升一样，鳄鱼皮市场也正在感受到飓风可能带来的后果。
一些知名品牌，如Hermes和Gucci能够优先获得美洲鳄鱼皮，使其供应得到保障。这是因为这些制造商持有大皮革加工商的股份。这些皮革加工商都是大客户，具有很大的购买力。
Hermes International工业事务的副总经理弗朗西斯?肖沃(Francis Chauveau)说，对我们来说，美洲鳄鱼是非常重要的商品。Hermes拥有法国的Gordon-Choisy皮革加工厂，还拥有另一家法国皮革加工厂Tannery des Cuirs d'Indochine et de Madagascar (简称TCIM) 49%的股份。TCIM拥有路易斯安那州的皮革加工厂Roggwiller Tannery。
没有拥有皮革加工商的制造商就更要看市场的脸色了。在Judith Leiber，一款叫做Slim Octagon，售价1,495美元的粉色鳄鱼皮皮包很受欢迎。该公司表示，正在密切关注美洲鳄鱼皮的供应情况，并已经开始采用其他地区的鳄鱼皮加工一些产品。对大多数人而言，很难分辨美洲鳄鱼皮与其他地区的鳄鱼皮。
Judith Leiber的首席执行长罗伯特?维格诺拉(Robert Vignola)说，大厂家正在大肆购买鳄鱼皮，并将部分小生产商挤出了市场。
佐治亚州鳄鱼皮处理及加工商American Tanning & Leather的销售主管普劳特?瑞德(Christine Plott Redd)说，听说约有20多家公司都在寻求储备美洲鳄鱼皮。“如果想要与主要厂家竞争只能如此。”她在去年就收到了一家箱包生产商25,000美元的订金。
路易斯安那州鳄鱼皮产业每年的产值约为4,000万美元。该州的野生动植物管理人员说，鳄鱼皮行业主要得益于精心的野生管理计划，这使鳄鱼的数量从上世纪60年代的约10万只增加到如今的150万只左右。
鳄鱼皮来自于养殖和野生鳄鱼。在鳄鱼春季产卵后，养殖者会在初夏时收集鳄鱼卵。为了寻找鳄鱼卵，养殖者驾驶著直升飞机在湿地上用全球定位系统和桩杆标记巢穴的位置。随后他们乘坐汽艇回来手工采集鳄鱼卵，一般按照每个鳄鱼卵10美元左右的价格向土地所有者付款。
当喂养的鳄鱼达到4英尺长时，一些就被屠宰了。路易斯安那州要求养殖者将14%达到这一尺寸的养殖鳄鱼放归大自然中以繁衍后代，但让人工喂养鳄鱼产卵的努力一直未能成功。这些鳄鱼会长得更大，在每年9月份的猎杀季节会有3万多只体长超过7英尺的鳄鱼被捕获和屠宰（通常是用猎枪射击头部）。
价格是由腹部的长度决定的，这个部位的价值最高，原因之一就是这里更平整，更柔软。一块典型的大皮子可以达到75厘米长，每厘米的价格约为8美元，即整块皮子的价格为600美元。背部隆起的皮革常常用来做皮靴。鳄鱼肉的零售价约为每磅7.50美元，约占养殖者收入的10%-15%。
鉴于巨大的利润空间，养殖者一直在想方设法加快鳄鱼的生长过程。凯西说，他已经开始用3年的时间将鳄鱼喂养到7英尺长。同其他鳄鱼养殖者一样, 他将这种冷血动物投入到温水池中饲养，以加快新陈代谢和增加摄食量。凯西不是在鳄鱼长到4英尺时将它们全部杀掉或是放归自然，而是将许多鳄鱼投入到更深的水池中，让它们长得更大。他说，三年前，他花了500万美元兴建了鳄鱼养殖场。
纽约设计师巴里?基泽斯特恩-考德(Barry Kieselstein-Cord)说，他将一些价格的上涨转嫁给了消费者。但他说，价格的上涨并未降低对其鳄鱼皮包、皮带和皮鞋的需求。特别是在俄罗斯和中国等富裕人群不断增加的国家，鳄鱼皮产品的销售非常好。他说，穿戴鳄鱼皮装饰是显示你的收入已达到一定水平的标志。
