The Debate About Fur Is Still Going On. What'S The Future Of Fur?

The debate about fur will continue, and how it will exist in the future is unknown, but it will not disappear for a period of time at least.

Fur has been used since the 1990s fashion The industry is a controversial topic.

"Cruelty", "bloodiness" and "maltreatment" are the indignation of animal protectors against the fur industry. They can not accept the production process of peeling animal fur alive, nor can they tolerate the killing of wild animals by some brands in order to obtain superior leather.

　　 The fashion industry, which is keen on fur, has also fallen into ethical dilemma.

The anti fur campaign launched by PETA has pushed the topic to a climax. Every year, at fashion week, there are always a group of protestors holding cards and shouting "fur is" "Dead", "blood on your hand"; Star supermodels are naked to shoot public service ads and promote "I'd rather go" "Naked than wear fur" has become the most representative protest slogan.

Photo: PETA, a public service advertisement against fur, was shot by PETA in 1994

What's more, radical actions such as disrupting brand fashion shows, splashing paint on women wearing mink coats happen from time to time, and throwing vegetarian pie has become a common protest method used by anti fur extremists - no one can forget that the protestors attacked the "fashion girl" in those days Anna Wintour's vegetarian pie throwing attack.

　　 The voice of boycotting animal fur has lasted for nearly 20 years, and has not subsided, and has made substantial progress and change.

Some countries and regions have actively responded to the appeal and launched relevant regulatory policies. Since 2013, West Hollywood has banned fur sales; At the beginning of this year, the Norwegian government said it planned to The animal fur farm was closed down completely a year ago; Last month, San Francisco City Council passed a law banning fur trading, making it the largest anti fur city in the United States; And Amsterdam also recently launched a legislative proposal to ban the trade in animal fur.

More importantly, with the increasing awareness of environmental protection of consumers and the constant pressure of public welfare organizations, luxury brands began to "reflect" themselves. More and more brands decided to abandon animal fur and join the anti fur camp.

In 2016, Armani joined hands with HSUS and fur free Alliance) signed an agreement to announce that all products of the group will no longer use animal fur.

Last year, Marco bizzarri, Gucci's chief executive, also publicly said that the brand no longer uses animal fur, and he expressed his opinion on BOF "Do you think fur is still fashionable today? I don't think it's a bit out of date, so we decided to abandon it. Besides fur, there are many different directions for design creativity."

After that, Michael kors, Jimmy Choo, Versace, Furla, DKNY and other brands also issued fur free statements, Tom Ford and Givenchy promised not to use real fur any more. In April, designer John Galliano decided to abandon fur after talking to PETA.

"It's time for the fashion world to wake up. Fur is brutal and out of date. The use of new materials and technologies is the most exciting part of the industry in the future. It's ridiculous to kill animals and use animal fur in the name of fashion." Stella McCartney She is a designer who strongly opposes fur in the industry. From the beginning, she promised not to use animal fur. "I have done this from the first day. I have been adhering to my belief, and I am very proud of it. But this is not only about myself, but also about the whole industry, an industry working together for the welfare of the earth and animals." For this reason, Stella McCartney likes to replace animal fur with artificial fur.

Stella McCartney's fall 2018 work uses Faux Fur photo: WWD

With the deepening of anti fur movement, artificial fur rose. Michael Kors、Dries Van Noten、Clare Waight Keller、Anna Designers such as Sui said that the emergence and development of artificial fur did help create design, so the use of real fur naturally became less important. According to faux fur Arnaud brunois, the founder of the Institute, revealed that more than 220 brands were completely using artificial fur at fashion shows in 2017 alone Home, and the number of orders for artificial fur is also growing.

Has the animal fur industry really been defeated by the anti fur movement?

The truth is, No. Fur industry insiders and fur supporters are also not willing to be outdone, they give a counterattack.

In January this year, the international fur Federation has released a video on how factories make artificial fur, pointing out that artificial fur made from petrochemical materials can emit microfibers, which can cause environmental damage. IFF He also stressed that animal fur is more sustainable and environmentally friendly than man-made fur, Nancy daigneault, vice president of IFF USA "Most people don't pay attention to the sustainable development of animal fur and its processing methods (such as farm farming based on circular economy and perfect fur recycling system)," he said

Fur supporters also point out that artificial fur is not a long-term sustainable option because it is usually made of acrylic acid (a synthetic material made from non renewable resources), which takes millions of years to degrade in landfills, compared to animal fur, which takes only a few years to biodegrade.

"Petroleum based artificial fur products are completely opposite to the concept of environmental protection. They are difficult to degrade and will harm the soil and the wild environment." Keith Kaplan, head of the fur Information Council say.

Kaplan also said the capture of wildlife such as foxes, beavers and hyenas (about 15% of the trade) helps manage wildlife populations and provides a sustainable livelihood for many indigenous communities.

From an ecological point of view, animal fur as a natural product seems to be beneficial, but soon, anti fur people refuted this: when considering the overall environment, the production of natural fur is not very environmentally friendly, From carbon emissions from farming farms to water pollution caused by chemical waste disposal (if synthetic fiber or non animal skin is used, chemicals are not required), which is an indication of how bad real fur can be.

"The energy required to produce a real fur from the fur of a farm animal is about to produce an artificial fur clothing 15 times. " PETA "In order to prevent decay, real fur needs to be treated chemically, so it's not easy to degrade. And the chemicals on it can also cause soil pollution," the group said

Sustainability has become their point of contention, and both sides have enough professional evidence and reasons to support their claims. However, for consumers, there is a lot to digest.

During the debate, another issue was pointed out. If the fur industry continues to be suppressed and resisted, it will cause considerable economic losses to a country or region or even to individual families.

Mike Moser, CEO, British fur trade In response to the Humanist Association's view that the UK should issue a fur ban, he retorted that it would be detrimental to the British economy in the period of brexit. "Why prohibit a legal and compliant industry, an industry that is happy to be prosperous and should be freely chosen. We may lose a value There is no doubt that this will affect employment. "

Karl Lagerfeld He also expressed similar views on the fur issue to the New York Times, "it's easy to say no fur, but it's an industry. If the fur industry is suppressed, who will pay and compensate the unemployed workers? Those organizations that fight against fur are not Bill Gates."

　 In this debate, how do consumers choose?

First of all, it is undeniable that consumers' sense of social responsibility is increasing, and brand social responsibility has gradually become one of the important criteria for their brand image. For this, peta organizes the staff Mathew He said that young consumers are becoming averse to fur. Some designers also believe that more and more millennials advocate vegetarianism, so they will reject animal fur in their consumption choices, which is the main reason why some designers choose artificial fur.

However, from the current point of view, the global fur sales value is up to 30 billion US dollars, there are still people who will buy fur, fur consumption market It didn't get any worse.

According to TIA Matthews, fashion business director of Saga furs, auction house Millennials are more concerned about the supply chain and transparency of enterprises, but that doesn't mean they are not interested in fur. He also said, "in North America, we found millennials are driving online fur sales in the past 24 Over the course of the last month, we've seen a 30% increase in sales at several major online retailers. They may not be buying whole fur clothes Maybe it's a small accessory or a shoe with a little fur

However, whether fur brands can continue to be sold through e-commerce platforms in the ongoing dispute is also a question. Like net-a-porter, a fashion luxury e-commerce supporting anti fur Last year, it announced that it would not sell fur products on the platform.

about leather and fur The debate will continue, and how it will exist in the future is also unknown, but at least for a period of time, it will not disappear.