Born in Berlin in 1912, Bernhard Hammerman arrived in Sydney in 1937 where he began working as a furrier at David Jones. After four years, Hammerman left to start his own business designing and making fur coats from kangaroo, mink, sable, chinchilla and fox.
During the early 1970s, American tourists and some American soldiers arriving in Australia on rest and recreation from the Vietnam War proved to be lucrative business for Hammerman Furs, selling hundreds of kangaroo coats to the visitors. In 1980, Bernhard Hammerman Furs successfully approached Charles Lloyd Jones, son of the David Jones founder, about operating Bernhard Hammerman Fur Salons in the department store. Across Australia, 14 salons were in opened.
According to Peter Hammerman, Bernhard Hammerman’s son, “Fur was the first real conservationist business. Hammerman Furs farmed 80% of our products in good conditions, however the business suffered when Brigitte Bardot came out against the fur trade.” Peter recalls, “It was the beginning of the end. People were afraid to wear their furs, because somebody would splash red paint on their coats.”
- Writers:
-
Jenni Hagedorn
- Date written:
- 2012
- Last updated:
- 2013
