Fur Flies at New York Fashion Week

by Rebecca Carter February 7, 2007
Categories: Fashion.

Tsk tsk tsk. Michael Kors, didn’t your mum ever tell you that animal fur actually kills animals? I mean, you don’t expect these four-legged creatures to be walking around without their pelts, right?

New York Fashion Week is becoming New York Fur Week after an AP report says that “fur has turned into a must-have item for the fall”, with the runway seeing everything from fur-lined collars to cuffs to trims. As McCann-Erickson trend analyst Tom Julian said:

“If the past two falls have been about jewel-encrusted clothing, this fall will be all about fur-enhanced clothing. From outerwear to knitwear, from red-carpet gowns to skirts, fur is becoming the trim that women will have to have as part of their wardrobe real or faux.”

But it seems that even designer Kors, who is best know for his judging stint in the Heidi Klum-helmed reality show Project Runway, is taking things a bit too far by creating a mini-dress made entirely of mink. Not sure if it’s fur or fake, but either way, this is sure to have animal rights activisits up in arms.

About Rebecca Carter

Rebecca Carter is the Co-Founder of Ecorazzi. Rebecca was recently featured in the book Hot, Rich, and Green. She is one of 70 eco-achievers featured in Glamour magazine in April 2009, named Best of Green 2010 by Miami Magazine and Best Environmentalist by Miami New Times Best of 2008. She's raising a couple of little boys in Miami and speaks English & Spanish. Find out more at www.RebeccaCarter.net. Follow Rebecca on Twitter: @rebeccacarter

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http://www.sustainablesean.com Sustainable Sean

I certainly understand the beauty of fur and the fact that is a must in places like Siberia or for indigenous peoples, but fashion has got to change their tune on this. Faux fur can replace any natural fur these days, you can actually do MORE with faux fur.

One way to accomplish a major shift in fashion would be to require all designers that use fur and/or leather to be present and witness the slaughter and processing of an animal (hopefully the one they are using) in order to be able to use it. Yes, leather too. Even though leather is a byproduct of other human activities I still think designers should better understand its source. I would have less issue with designers using the resource if I knew they understood what truly happens in the process. Even better, I think there should be a LOT more effort to honor the animal that gave its life…whether it be for food, clothing , or research. This would do a lot in healing our relationship with animals and the natural world. Sounds kind of hoaky but it’s true.

I do eat meat (though I’m adamant about knowing where it came from – e.g. local farmer or hunter), I do wear leather products (almost all 2nd hand though), and I would wear fur in the right situation (Siberia yes, to the Dallas,TX Opera no) but having grown up on a farm in Nebraska I feel I have a good understanding of where meat and leather come from and can therefore appreciate the sacrifice involved and thus better honor the animal from the start. I also picked up a large part of my philosphy on animals from the many incredible and wise First Nations individuals I have interacted with over the years. We certainly could learn a lot and gain insite on this from their ways and beliefs on this issue…and many others issues for that matter.
http://www.furfree.hsus.org Andrea

This is particularly disturbing given the results of an investigation by the Humane Society of the United states- 24 out of the 25 fur-trimmed jackets they had tested were incorrectly labelled as “faux”, labelled as a different species, or not labelled at all. I’d like designers and retailers not use real fur at all but if they are going to use it, they should at least be obligated to not dupe consumers. To see which companies were guilty, visit http://www.furfree.hsus.org
Mark Brakspear

I really do not understand this stance on fur. How can leather be ok as it’s a by product of other human activities. Murder is murder? So if you are upset by fur then why not protest outside Supermarkets selling meat, all shoe shopes selling leather shoes, all drug stores where drugs are tested on animals? Could it be, perhaps, that it’s far more exciting to talk about fashion designers and storm their shows. On my way to work can you imagine how much leather I see people wearing? I probably see about 1% of that amount as fur, surely you are just going after the easy targets and the fluffy animals. What about all the cows that die? Or is that ok as they are not cute – I really think all people against fur look very silly when they fail to tackle leather first which is a much larger industry. But as I said, far more exciting to storm a catwalk show than stand outside a shoe store.