Fur in the fashion industry: Friend or Foe?
F.U.R. The three letters that, when under that syntax can completely divide followers of both fashion and animal welfare. Once a highly regarded material in fashion that epitomised luxury and comfort, it now holds controversial connotations. Personally, I find fur extremely difficult to wrap my head around.Fur has been used in clothing since, most likely the beginning of time. Cavemen are likely to have used the hides from animals that they killed to eat as protection from their artic, pre centrally heated winters. The key here is that, for them, the fur was a necessary by-product of their eating habits, they didn't kill the animals for their skins, but for the flesh. Skip forward thousands of years, and by the 1980s (arguably earlier), fur was no longer a necessity for warmth, but a symbol of wealth and "style", used to trim coats and jackets with no other use other than being simply aesthetically.
The majority of fur, 85% (1) comes from animals held captive in "fur factory farms" whereby animals are killed for their fur, not to be eaten. Fifty-eight percent of mink farms are in Europe, 10 percent are in North America, and the rest are in countries such as Argentina, China, and Russia (2). The conditions these animals are subjected to are in a word, and it pains me to write this, it is unlike anything I have seen before. Animals are in cramped conditions, with little access to water. They are fed meat that is not fit for human consumption and on top of this, they wave to wait to be killed where they will die a painful, greusome death. Fur farmers' main goal is to ensure the fur remains intact.
Animal Welfare organisation PETA writes "Small animals may be crammed into boxes and poisoned with hot, unfiltered engine exhaust from a truck. Engine exhaust is not always lethal, and some animals wake up while they are being skinned. Larger animals have clamps attached to or rods forced into their mouths and rods are forced into their anuses, and they are painfully electrocuted. Other animals are poisoned with strychnine, which suffocates them by paralysing their muscles with painful, rigid cramps. Gassing, decompression chambers, and neck-breaking are other common slaughter methods on fur factory farms" (3)
It gets worse when you realise over 1 billion animals are killed every year for their fur. (4)
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| Mink - a popular choice for fur farms |
Fur holds no place in the contemporary fashion industry. Aesthetically, most faux fur that is produced looks uncanny compared to its gruesome counterpart; so you get all of the style with none of the violence. On a technical level, Fur gained popularity becuase of how warm it is (once a necessity) however, now warmth can be gained from other materials, both manmade and natural that prove equil in even the most extreme climates.
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| Peta's adverts slamming the brutal fur industry |
I asked friends to give me their opinion on fur, and 78% of my Instagram followers said they would not wear real fur, and 59% of my twitter followers also said they would not wear fur. Interesting to see why there is such a difference.
Last month, fashion house Gucci announced they would be going fur free, and animal activists celebrated across the globe, here is a lift of many brands who have gone fur free!
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| Gucci's instagram message |
So, Fur in the fashion industry looks like its on its way out, but, only time will tell how long that will be until we are fur free.
(1) https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-clothing/animals-used-clothing-factsheets/inside-fur-industry-factory-farms/
(2) https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-clothing/animals-used-clothing-factsheets/inside-fur-industry-factory-farms/
(3) https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-clothing/animals-used-clothing-factsheets/inside-fur-industry-factory-farms/
(4) http://www.lcanimal.org/index.php/campaigns/fur/fur-trade-facts
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