Recalled the French animal hair coat (6)
I believe the answer is:
enamel
'coat' is the definition.
(enamel is a kind of coat)
'recalled the french animal hair' is the wordplay.
'recalled' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'the french' becomes 'le'.
'animal hair' becomes 'mane'.
'le'+'mane'='lemane'
'lemane' written backwards gives 'ENAMEL'.
(Other definitions for enamel that I've seen before include "Hard type of paint" , "Hard shiny coating as on teeth" , "Dental material" , "Hard glossy surface" , "art form" .)