Jacqueline Ajamian rearranges the fur coats on the rack while she first walks in the store in the morning at Fourrures Ajamian Ltee in Montreal, Quebec on December 3, 2021. She was born in Syria to an Armenian Christian family and was raised as a Christen. Aashka Patel/ Concordia.
Jacqueline Ajamian arranges the fur coats as part of her everyday routine at Fourrures Ajamian Ltee in Montreal, Quebec on December 3, 2021. She was raised in Syria and completed her high school there. She moved to Montreal with her family – Mother, Father and Brother after completing her high school in 1976. Aashka Patel/Concordia
Jacqueline Ajamian shows the unique fur coat made from goat fur with leopard print at Fourrures Ajamian Ltee in Montreal, Quebec on December 3, 2021. She is a third generation Furrier and runs the family business with her brother, Sarkis Ajamian at St-Hubert in Montreal. Aashka Patel/Concordia
Jacqueline Ajamian shows the fox fur detail on the goat fur coat with tiger print at Fourrures Ajamian Ltee in Montreal, Quebec on December 3, 2021. Her parents established the family business in Montreal in 1977 and the store has been functioning ever since. Aashka Patel/ Concordia
Jacqueline Ajamian checks for all her appointment before she goes to her workshop at Fourrures Ajamian Ltee in Montreal, Quebec on December 3, 2021. She is a Civil engineer by training and completed her degree from McGill University in 1983. Aashka Patel/Concordia
Jacqueline Ajamian walks up the stairs to the workshop above the store to do some repair work on the fur coats at Fourrures Ajamian Ltee in Montreal, Quebec on December 3, 2021. After graduating from McGill University she tried to find a job as a Civil Engineer but says wasn’t able to find any because of the 1980s recession. Aashka Patel/Concordia
Jacqueline Ajamian works on a repair order on her workstation at Fourrures Ajamian Ltee in Montreal, Quebec on December 3, 2021. She join the family business in 1983 after unable to find a job as a Civil engineer. Aashka Patel/Concordia
Jacqueline Ajamian repairs a fur coat at Fourrures Ajamian Ltee in Montreal, Quebec on November 28, 2021. The fur coat was up-cycled by her mother for her client’s mother and says that the fur is almost 75 years old. Aashka Patel/Concordia.
Jacqueline Ajamian repairs a fur coat at Fourrures Ajamian Ltee in Montreal, Quebec on November 28, 2021. She recalls that her grandmother taught her to embroider and sew at a mere age of 7 years. She has always considered fur work as her hobby and not her profession. Aashka Patel/Concordia
Jacqueline Ajamian repairs a fur coat lining at Fourrures Ajamian Ltee in Montreal, Quebec on December 3, 2021. She comes to the store everyday and takes care of the sales part of the store along with repair and lining of the fur coat. Aashka Patel/Concordia
Jacqueline Ajamian selects a piece of waste fur produced during pattern cutting to make pompom for a hat at Fourrures Ajamian Ltee in Montreal, Quebec on November 28, 2021. She believes that fur is more sustainable source of warm clothes as all the parts of the animal hide are used completely hardly leaving any waste behind. Aashka Patel/Concordia
Jacqueline Ajamian sews the selected piece to make a pompom for a hat at Fourrures Ajamian Ltee in Montreal, Quebec on November 28, 2021. She adds that unlike the warm clothes made from synthetic textile which are not biodegradable, fur has a life span of maximum 150 years. It would disintegrate into organic material without disturbing the ecosystem. Aashka Patel/Concordia
Jacqueline Ajamian attaches the pompom to the hat at Fourrures Ajamian Ltee in Montreal, Quebec on November 28, 2021. She says that she tries to incorporate fur accessories in her everday life as it can make any ordinary thing luxurious. Aashka Patel/Concordia
Jacqueline Ajamian arranges all the up-cycled fur accessories at Fourrures Ajamian Ltee in Montreal, Quebec on December 3, 2021. The store has a lot of different range of up-cycled accessory to chose from. Aashka Patel/Concordia.
Jacqueline Ajamian show a multipurpose band made from up-cycled fur at Fourrures Ajamian Ltee in Montreal, Quebec on November 28, 2021.
Jacqueline Ajamian is a third generation Furrier and runs the family business along with her brother, Sarkis Ajamian. Ajamian was born and raised in Syria to an Armenian Christian parents. She came to Montreal with her family in 1976 after completing her high school in Syria. She completed her Civil Engineering from McGill University in 1983. She got involved in the family business as she was unable to find a job after her graduation. She has been working as a furrier for almost four decades now.
She says that she has never considered fur work as a profession but as a hobby and this is the reason why she enjoys working as a furrier. She adds that she has always cherished sewing and creating new clothes. She recalls that her Grandmother taught her to sew and embroider at a mere age of seven.
The Ajamian family established their fur business in 1977 and got the store they right now operate from in 1987. Jacqueline Ajamian works in the store and workshop every day, ten hours a day.
She believes in working with fur as fur is an organic material and does not harm the ecosystem as much as synthetic materials. She advocates that fur is a material which hardly produces any waste and all parts of the animal hides are used in some form or the other. She adds that at the end of the lifecycle it disintegrates and becomes an organic material hardly leavings any toxic recede behind. She also designs and creates small accessories like multipurpose band, corsages, jeweler and hand bags from either up-cycling old fur or waste produced during the pattern cutting process.