I’m often asked how I ended up working in the fur industry and with Possum fur in particular. I wasn’t always known by the pseudonym ‘Ms Possum’. So, how did it all come about? Well, here’s the Ms Possum story.

Many years ago, in suburban Auckland, my beauty sleep was interrupted, by one of our furry friends, launching itself through an open window. The subsequent hissing and thrashing was matched only by my hysteria – but it was during this pandemonium that an idea was born…

In the ensuing years, I happily moved on to other areas of the fashion industry (haute couture, bridal and leatherwear) without giving much thought to the little marsupials or the fur trade in general.

However, that was all about to change.

I had a series of unfortunate roadside incidents with the little marsupial menace. At first I thought I was being targeted. Then I learned that we have over 70 million of the little critters in New Zealand, which reassured me that I wasn’t alone in this interaction. I also realized that a more proactive commercially-driven approach to handling Possums was needed. Thus the metamorphosis to Ms Possum began.

I went back to how the old artisan furriers worked and learned their techniques and skills. Over time it became obvious that the satisfaction derived from stretching and preparing the hides, was incredibly therapeutic. My ‘Possum revenge syndrome’ has begun to abate – although sadly there is no known cure for this psychological condition.

However, on the plus side (and it’s a big one) I’m always creating new and beautiful Possum fur garments, scarves and bed throws for happy customers like you!

So there you go! The Ms Possum story and thus the birth of Possum New Zealand…