To go fur-free or not to go fur-free, that is the question.
Recently, the conversation has gained renewed momentum when Michael Kors decided to eschew real fur, joining a growing number of designers and brands including Gucci, online luxury retailer YOOX Net-a-Porter as well as VF Corp., which owns The North Face.
Today, there are more alternatives to fur than ever and on Tuesday morning, we invited our members to a conversation on “The Move to Fur-Free,” hosted by the Humane Society of the United States. HSUS senior manager of fashion policy PJ Smith was joined by John Bartlett and Marc Bouwer as they discussed alternative furs with a group that included Ruthie Davis, Martin Cooper, Christopher Kunz, and executives from brands such as Michael Kors, Proenza Schouler, John Varvatos, Prabal Gurung, Rosetta Getty, Isa Tapia, Adrienne Landau, and Eugenia Kim.
“We have a basis platform for how Americans feel about animals,” Smith said. “We don’t want them to be abused because we love animals.”
He added that there is greater awareness and access to information that can tarnish a company and lead it to alternative supply chain methods, citing Sea World and the impact of the Blackfish documentary as one such example.
Many countries are implementing legislation to protect the wellbeing of animals.
Bartlett recalled the Eighties, when supermodels were fur-free advocates and people in real furs would be sprayed by animal rights activists, and how the pendulum then swung.
He designed a couple of fur pieces for an uptown, Grey Gardens-inspired show in the early 2000s. “I remember thinking this doesn’t feel good to me,” he remembered. “Right after the show, I received a video of Stella McCartney, who had worked with PETA on a video about the underbelly of the industry. [Later], I went vegan. I stopped using leather. I went extreme, but it felt right”.
“What’s been exciting in the last few years is this awareness, this talking in constructive ways to companies about the options,” he added. “The customers are changing. The attitudes towards animals are changing. There is more information now and it’s hard to look the other way.”
Smith pointed to confusion with some imported furs that are labeled faux but are in fact real. There was little regulation to labeling, prompting the HSUS to herald the Truth in Fur Labeling Act, which President Obama signed in 2010.
Bouwer recalled being courted by fur suppliers after a positive New York Times review of his runway collection— but he soon realized that this was not the path he wanted to take.
“Technology gives us ways to duplicate fur and leather,” he said. “I started to make beautiful coats. Just be aware of the process, and try to be part of the solution.”
For many brands, fur-free is a strategic decision. Smith said that younger generations are increasingly mindful of animal welfare, and millenials in particular think differently about real fur than their grandmothers once did.
“Technological advances make it possible that we don’t need to use real fur anymore,” he said.
He added that brands would look to find humane sources for real fur, and once they realized that what they were looking for didn’t exist, they decided it was easier to go fur-free.
The production of fake fur is not without issues, and the use of petroleum is impacting the environment – but Smith maintained that when you compare both supply chains, the faux fur industry still fares significantly better.
“In 2018, we will see more countries banning fur production, more cities banning fur sales, more companies going fur-free,” Smith noted, “and faux furs will get better and better.”
Premiere Vision provided a comprehensive list of faux fur vendors to share with CFDA Members. Click here to view the list. The following four are the top-recommended vendors: TEXAPEL, PELTEX; KYUNGWON – KR; JIANGXIN XIMEN / CN.
