Although J. Mendel has successfully transitioned out of being merely a furrier to being seen as a viable fashion house over the last four years, they are now attempting to become a full-on lifestyle brand. Handbags & shoes are in the works, as is jewelry - J. Mendel once designed baubles for Cartier - and home decor. "Soon you're going to see home furnishings," Gilles Mendel, fifth generation Mendel, recently told WWD. "You're going to see the whole world of J. Mendel. The dream I had was to be a full-fledged luxury brand, not just a furrier." The reason such ventures inevitably meet with major success - provided they are marketed properly - is that consumers increasingly want more and more areas of their life curated by tastemakers. Since a designer like J. Mendel already has a built-in market - with $$$ and an extreme willingness to spend it - it makes sense to market taste in all areas of life where matters of taste, well, matter.

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