In My View
By Priscilla Feral, President | Act•ionLine Winter 2010-11
United States fur designer Dennis Basso, who loves to air-kiss fur-clad customers, told New York Magazine earlier this year that “fur is a big part of fashion.”
While the global economy quaked, New York Magazine wrote that Basso “showed some of the most voluminous broadtail and fox creations we’ve seen from him in seasons…huge fur bags with gigantic fur tails dangling off the ends…”
Then what message is sent by Basso’s new “faux” fur collection for this winter? Basso’s fake fur chinchilla coat and scarf was featured on QVC’s fashion page in November. So were Basso’s faux shearling coats and a suede skirt, along with several jackets, scarves and heard-warmers - all selling for less than $200. Are pricey real-fur items finally relics of a bygone era?
Not exactly, according to Animal People publisher Kim Bartlett, who says faux fur plays a role in keeping fur fashionable.
Bartlett explains: “It gives cover to the real thing. People who knowingly buy real fur can claim it is fake if someone expresses disapproval.”
Designers who renounced fur in the past decade include Charlotte Ronson, Calvin Klein, Vivienne Westwood, Betsey Johnson, Stella McCartney, Todd Oldham and Mark Bouwer. Nicole Miller backtracked, and now shows fur collars on sweaters. Ralph Lauren, who once promised fur-free designs, is using lamb shearling on boots and a vest this season; and formerly fur-free Kenneth Cole is peddling “Fur Sure Boots” on Amazon.com.
Kim Kardashian was photographed wearing not one but two fur coats in New York City on a mild November day during the filming of a new reality television show.
Ginger Burr, president of Total Image Consultants, recently flipped through the 700-plus- page Fall issue of Vogue and was startled to find “page after page of fur and shearling” with the message Fur is going where it hasn’t gone before.
In the ground, one hopes.
People who don’t wear full-length fur coats might be persuaded to buy jackets adorned with skins from coyotes, wolves, foxes or raccoons, or fur-trimmed boots, pocketbooks, sweaters or scarves. Animal People editor Merritt Clifton sees the trim as “a byproduct industry”-conceding that “it does help them to get a foot in the door to sell full-fur garments later.”
Clifton does not think fur sales are rebounding. “The fur industry always says that,” says Clifton.
Yet in China, where people have purchased about two-thirds of the global fur production-some 1.5 million fur items-in 2010, one news source asserts: “For some Chinese, fur jackets, coats and hats are a way to show off wealth and success.”
Not everyone is buying.
“We cannot stop rich people buying fur, but I hope we can at least change the minds of university students, who are potential buyers, from doing this in the future,” says Zhang Qian, the international Design Against Fur competition’s Chinese regional director, to Peoples’ Daily Online.
The 20-year-old Shanghai Film Art Academy student won the Most Popular award for a work titled “Please, don’t take off my clothes,” which depicts a rabbit asking not to be skinned.
Design Against Fur has attracted millions of artwork and design entries from college students who want to counter the allure of flaunting fur. It couldn’t come too soon.
Other animals, like us, deserve to go about the business of living. They were born in their skin; it belongs to them, and so does their freedom.
This winter, we’ll continue our campaigns, in New York City and beyond, encouraging people to reject the advertising of a treacherous and unnecessary industry. We welcome your support.
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4 Comments
On January 1, 2011, J. Muir wrote:
It’s really devastating that fur is making such a comeback and people don’t have any trouble on their consciences about it. No one can argue that fur for fashion is in any way a necessity. It’s appalling that real, living, beating-heart individuals are trapped, or raised in confinement, and then killed for this completely trivial whim.
Let it stop.
On January 2, 2011, GDiFonzo wrote:
I think the extreme effort furriers seem to be putting into publicity shows that the recession has left them desperate for customers. Five or six years ago, fur was seen by the middle class as more desirable and a must-have for anyone who wanted to fit into the bling-bling lifestyle; now that more people are suffering economically, it’s a disgustingly gaudy relic of a faded era. Magazines like Lucky and InStyle, who pushed fur heavily in the past decade, now either emphasize going faux or generally avoid the fur look altogether. This is probably the most advantageous time to crack down on the fur industry—they are weaker than they’ve been in years. I feel that determined activists can achieve more than ever considering the circumstances, so don’t let up.
Kim Kardashian took a lot of rotten tomatoes for her cruel tastes, by the way, especially from Us Magazine.
On January 8, 2011, Lea wrote:
In response to what Muir wrote-Nobody can argue that commodifying animals for any means is a necessity. Yet, I understand completely the fury over fur. Fur makes me go crazy in a way that leather or ice cream never does. I don’t know why that is? I can’t explain my own feelings on the subject. Thank you for an excellent article Priscilla.
On January 12, 2011, dave wrote:
i think the fur buisness is hurting,at least the big ones, they dont have stores anymore,they are advetising more ,but there in hotels. i see some of these so called stars,kim kardasian,steve something on tmz in there furs,there just washed up actresses and actors trying to get attention,somebody should tell them there careers are over and they look like idiots in fur,and lets be honest, whens the last time you met somebody who wears fur that actually had half a brain, you get more intellegent conversation from a rock.when you see someone wearing fur,just ignore them,then they will finally realize killing an animal for fashion is unacceptable in this time and age,and if you partake in it your an IDIOT. the only thing wearing fur does , it helps point out the losers looking for attention. i say ignore them,but when i see one of these boneheads in fur,i have to say something,i think they like to be insulted,i tell them to go put a shirt on ,thats gross,everybody laughs at them, and they usually go home and change.and i never see them in fur again.lets face it, if you wear fur, your just asking to be abused.