**Please be aware that some of this posts content may be distressing to the reader**

Introduction

For many years now, the fashion industry has been under scrutiny for using real fur due to the slaughtering of animals on fur farms. Although fur farms and suppliers insist that their animals are kept and skinned in the most pain free way possible, recent undercover reports have shown a very different story. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is constantly campaigning to try and give the animals that we all live with a better chance at life. There is an endless supply of celebrity and media attention based on real fur being used in society and gracing the catwalks. In this report, the fur industry will be uncovered and the dubious question will be yours to answer…to fake it or not to fake it? History of Fur.

Fur has been around the world, since the Stone Age where humans wore it to keep themselves warm in the bitter cold weather and also for protection. Fur was worn in Ancient Egypt to show both wealth and status of a certain people, such as pharaohs. In Greece fur was worn as a dress code for battles and also for interior decoration.

Fur clothing was mostly layered up and worn outdoors but it was quite common to wear indoors too. Today, fur trade is used to help support a lot of different lifestyles and cultures from the aboriginal Canadians to the Afghans who live in remote regions with less commercialised areas.

The fur coat that we know as a fashion staple today originated from the Victorian era, in the late 19th century. It used to be more common to wear fur only

on the insides of the clothing, until designers made fur more fashionable to wear on the outsides and as trims. It was French Designer Paul Poiret who made fur more renowned, through using large quantities of it his collections in the 1900’s. In the 1950’s, lots of designers began to experiment with more casual garments. They started to explore new designs and innovations in re-making the ever famous ‘fur coat’.

Introduction to the fur industry

Today fur is used globally and serves many different purposes ranging from clothing, decoration, a means to keep warm and the construction of huts and even bedding in certain foreign countries. Fur is a luxury item that most people see as an exclusive thing to have in their home or indeed in their wardrobes. It is widely used in Couture fashion shows and designers seem to favour it greatly in the colder, winter months. Fur used for men’s clothing was also on the rise, it became very popular when used in the famous Parker coat as a trim around the hood.

“Consumers apparently like the new look of fur; they are buying it in increasing numbers. For the past four years, since global retail figures have been collated, there has been consistent year-on year growth – this year reaching a value of US$11.7 billion worldwide.” (British fur)

The fur industry is a big chain of companies that either trap or breed animals for their furs. These animals include foxes, raccoon dogs, deer, racoons and minks. Shocking headlines such as ‘Dying for Fashion’ (care for the wild) have hit the news with a great impact among global animal lovers. After a year long investigation by Care For The Wild International (care for the wild) into Chinese fur farms, the true horrors of the treatment towards helpless animals was finally uncovered.

The author of the article on the Care for the wild website writes;

“China is the world’s biggest fur trade production and processing base in the world. Most of this fur originates from captive animals, including red and arctic foxes, raccoon dogs, mink, and rabbits. China is also a country without any legal provisions for animal welfare and a correspondingly poor track record. Last year, CFTWI teamed up with colleagues from Switzerland and Taiwan to examine the situation on the ground. What we found was shocking. Our investigators uncovered unimaginable acts of systematic brutality and animal cruelty on a colossal scale.” (Care for the wild). Video footage from PETA shows a worker on the farm repeatedly beating a raccoon dog around the head with a bat before picking it up and swinging it head first into the floor, the worker then proceeded to hang up the defenceless animal and start skinning it whilst it was still alive. After being skinned, the animal is then thrown into a box full of other carcasses still alive and crying out in pain. The despicable ways in which these animals are treated are absolutely barbaric therefore companies such as Care For The Wild and PETA (People for the ethical treatment of animals), are working hard towards preventing this horrifying behaviour.

During the years of 2004 and 2005, an investigation took place into fur farms in the Hebei Province region of China. It was discovered that each farm held approximately 50 to 6000 caged animals. China is the worlds’ largest exporter for fur and with no legal barriers against animal welfare, it is hardly surprising. Fur farming is banned in the UK, but yet London is still the “World Centre” for buyers (care for the wild).

Stella McCartney reported on an undercover report, videoed on a fur farm in the USA and was absolutely distraught with her findings. The secret filming revealed that animals were kept in tiny cages and left to rot with disease. On February 25th 1997, a fox died in his tiny cage after having an ear infection so bad that he could not hold his head up anymore. Another fox sadly ate its cage mate due to its dire starvation. Many of the animals kept in captivity for fur do not receive food at all and sometimes do not receive water for five weeks at a time. Many of the animals become “Cage Mad” (PETA) from being cramped into such a small space for an exceptionally long time. Video footage from the undercover investigation shows the cruel ways in which the foxes are killed, an electronic rod is placed inside the foxes anus and the fox is forced to bite down on another rod, as this happens, the rod inside the fox sends powerful electronic currents through its tiny body until the fox finally dies an excruciatingly painful death. This treatment is often un-effective in killing the animal, and often leaves animals in a large amount of pain before slowly dying an untimely death. Unfortunately, this footage shows the metal rod fall out several times causing the fox even more pain and discomfort than necessary.

It was later found out from the video footage that the skinned carcasses were later ground down and fed to the other caged animals.

Fur in the Fashion Industry

Following the recent discoveries of despicable behaviour at fur farms, Tommy Hilfiger has decided to go totally Faux. This following report was taken from a bulletin on (furisdead).

“Following months of discussions with PETA, Tommy Hilfiger joins Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Kenneth Cole, and others in banning fur from his collections.” ‘Starting immediately, the company will cease development of any product containing fur, and any fur garment already in production will be phased out of sales channels by the delivery of the spring 2008 collection,’ Tommy Hilfiger Corp. announced in a statement. Fred Gehring, CEO of Tommy Hilfiger Corp., told fashion trade publication Women’s Wear Daily that to ‘guarantee our products live up to the integrity we promise our customers, we have decided to switch to a faux fur policy entirely.’”

On the other hand, Burberry Design Director, Christopher Bailey, recently spoke out in a seminar and revealed that he does in fact use real fur in his garments. This website has been made in defiance of Burberrys choice to use real fur. The site states

“Burberry may be best known for its distinctive plaid, but its use of real fur is making the design house synonymous with cruelty to animals. Burberry continues to use fur in its designs despite the fact that leading clothing retailers like Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Ann Taylor, Polo Ralph Lauren, and others have pulled fur from their stores forever.”

The site is run by PETA and also states that “Burberry knows about the suffering that goes into every fur-trimmed coat, hat, and bag, yet the company continues to use fur in its designs. With so many fashionable, comfortable alternatives available, there is no excuse for Burberry to continue using dead, tortured animals in its designs.”

Many people love the idea of wearing fur but hate the idea of the torture and horrific circumstances that come with it. This is why they turn to Faux fur. Faux fur is an alternative to real fur, it is just a replica of the real thing which is manufactured in a pain free way, no animals suffer at the hand of faux fur. Recent reports from America showed that Dog fur was being supplied to Fashion chains and being passed off at Faux fur. The fashion chains, which shall not be named, were said to be horrified and totally unaware of this. On the other hand, there are companies that specialise in Faux Fur such as Faux UK, they supply faux fur stoles and wraps.

During research, Rachael Divers, Fashion student at Leeds University, spoke to Amanda Wisniewski, New Media student at Leeds University. Amanda told her that her family is in the fur trade in Poland, they make fur coats and fur upholstery. Amanda told Rachael that her family receives their fur from Animal charities and Shelters where the animals have died through natural causes or by untreatable disease and illness. This is a much more humane way of making fur garments and accessories, but the question still remains is it right? It could be said that this is just the same as a dead human who has donated their heart or body parts, but the difference being the animal has had no choice in whether its skin be ripped off of its corpse or not, and this will always be the case.

Morally, it is wrong to skin an animal, even after death but it is, as mentioned before, a much more humane and kinder way. Many people love the idea and glamour of wearing fur, but today, fur used for any clothing is mostly frowned upon.

Celebrities such as Sophie Ellis Bextor, Anna Nicole Smith and Playboys’ Holly Manson have all posed for PETA ad campaigns stating “I’d rather go naked than wear fur”, and “Here’s the rest of your fur coat”.

For Fur?

This quote, “Am I an accomplice to murder by stroking the softness of animal fur with the tips of my fingers? I have no remorse and I refuse to renounce the shiver of a body wrapped in fur, the emotion of the moment, when the evening closes with promises of night” (Konopnick 1995 cited in Nadeau 2001, p.7), states that the wearer of the fur does not feel guilty in doing so and would not like to begrudge herself the pleasure of feeling the soft fur against her skin.

The fear that the Fur industry is dying was exploited in the book, ‘The fur trade of America’ by Agnes C. Laut. In her book, Agnes writes “Is the world facing a permanent shortage of furs? Lovers of the wild life say it is. Fur dealers say it is not; and both present cogent reasons for their arguments. It is the oldest industry in the world, fur hunting, fur trading.” (p.1). This is very true, there are a huge number of supporters of the fur industry throughout the globe, one of the main places being China. The fur industry does seem to be going very strong still, seeing as the designers are still using it and the public are still buying it.

Fur is seen as a glamorous, expensive item to wear. It looks expensive and makes the wearer appear very wealthy. Fur is constantly being used in Fashion shows for both Pret a Porter and Haute Couture. There are still huge arguments about whether fur should be worn or not. Celebrity website, www.people.com recently ran a feature story on how Lindsay Lohan has given up fur. Readers of the website are encouraged to share their point of view on fur, some of these responses are as following; “I definitely would wear fur. God put animals on this earth and gave us dominion over them. Genesis 1-11. After Adam sinned, God made coats of skins and clothed Adam and Eve. To do this, God must have killed at least one animal (possibly more). I don’t believe in torturing animals, but they were put here to serve man.” (Mary, November 2006).

“What is the difference in wearing fur or leather? the animal still is killed for it. I bet the ones that don’t wear fur have some leather in their closets. :)” (McMillon, November 2006)

“I wear real fur. I eat meats. I wear leather. I agree, those people who are against wearing fur I can guarantee you own leather….what about those poor animals? Hypocrites. Nothing wrong with wearing fur or eating meats…cry me a river PETA. Good for J Lo.” (Misty, November 2006).

“Like Dawn said, fur has been used for thousands of years to keep people warm when there was nothing else to cover themselves with. Now we have the technology to create better kinds of materials (that are less expensive and easier to clean for pete’s sake) to keep ourselves warm. Fur is cruel, but it’s also just a ridiculous luxury item these days. I suppose there will always be someone who doesn’t mind wearing pieced together animal skin though.” (WendyO, November 2006).

From these different perspectives, it is clear that we are a very opinionated nation and that as long as fur is worn, there will be disagreements. It is a fickle argument that would still be lingering if the fur industry was banned altogether, there would always be individuals who would campaign to bring fur back.

Fashion website, (Fasion-era) wrote a report on the catwalks for Autumn/Winter 2006/2007, they recognized that fur was a key element this season and that it hit the catwalks big time. The website stated that “the emergence of a new sense of shape and structure in designer collections has made fur not only a key element this season, but it has also provided a vital direction for the image of fur itself”. This statement suggests that fur is coming back onto the scene and that it is definitely a good move for designers. The fur used was described as being ‘masterfully cut’ and all seemed to be in favor of the new way to wear fur. The key style tip appeared to be that a little goes a long way, as fur was featured mainly in cuffs or collars and was not the main focal part of the garment.

Animal Rights

The fur industry initiates a number of problems and questions due to the factor of animal rights; who has the right to take the animals slaughtered away from their homes and mothers? Human beings would certainly not be kept in these conditions and be skinned alive, it would be seen as utterly mad and insane, so why is this allowed to happen to animals? The chapter, ‘The problem with being a thing’ (Wise 2001, p.1-2) in the book ‘Rattling the cage’ by Steven M. Wise describes a chimpanzee in a way that sounds human, the short story causes a feeling of disbelief that this could ever happen to a human.

“Jerom died on February 13, 1996, ten days shy of his fourteenth birthday. The teenager was dull, bloated, depressed, sap, anemic, and plagued by diarrhea. He had not played in fresh air for eleven years. As a thirteen-month-old infant, he had been intentionally infected with HIV virus SF2. At the age of four he had been infected with another HIV strain, LAV-1. A month short of five, he was infected with yet a third strain, NDK. Throughout the Iran-Contra hearings, almost to the brink of the Gulf War, he sat in the small windowless, cinder-block infectious Disease Building. Then he was moved a short distance to a large, windowless, gray concrete box, one of eleven bleak steel-and-concrete cells 9 feet by 11 feet by 8.5 feet. Throughout the war and Bill Clinton’s campaign for a second term as president, he languished in his cell. This was the chimpanzee, Infectious Disease Building. It stood in the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center near grassy, tree-lined Emory University, minutes from the bustle of downtown Atlanta, Georgia.” (Wise 2001, p.7)

Conclusion

The shocking realisation towards animal rights is linked greatly with fur in the Fashion industry. If animals were only used for their fur after a natural death, it is expected that there would be a lot less speculation and issues raised. Although a lot of fur farms do produce fur in the correct, kinder way, it is a sad fact that the majority probably do not. Fur is indeed percieved a glamorous, luxury item to have, but ask yourself one question…Would you die for your fur coat?

Bibliography

World Wide Web Source

Bloody Burberry. 2006. When Plaid goes bad. [online] [Accessed 22nd April 2007] Available from World Wide Web: <http://bloodyburberry.com/feature.asp>.
Care for the wild. 1999. The gory fur trail from China to the UK. [online]. [Accessed 10th May 2007] Available from World Wide Web: <http://www.careforthewild.com/files/Furbriefingdoc206_paginated.pdf>.
Fashion-Era. 2001. Fur Fashion Trends Autumn 2006 Winter 2007. Fur gives Shape to Fashion. [online]. [Accessed 1st May 2007]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://fashion-era.com/trends_2007a/2007 _fall_ fashion_trends_fur_2006.htm>.
Faux UK. 2003. Fashion. [online]. [Accessed 11th May 2007]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://fauxuk.com/fashion.asp>.
Fur is dead. 1998. Playboy’s Holly Madison: ‘I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur’. [online]. [Accessed 22nd April 2007]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://www.furisdead.co.uk/feat-hollymadison.asp>.
Fur is dead. 1998. Tommy Hilfiger Drops Fur. [online]. [Accessed 5th March 2007]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://www.furisdead.com/feat-tommyhilfiger.asp>.
Greatest Cities. 1999. Sophie Ellis Bextor for PETA. [online]. [Accessed 11th May 2007]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://www.greatestcities.com/0299pic/916/CP18916.jpg/Sophie_Ellis_Bextor_for_PETA.jpg>.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. 1997. PETA Print Ads [online]. [Accessed 20th March 2007]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://www.peta.org/pdfs/ADswain.pdf>.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. 1997. PETA TV advertising [online]. [Accessed 20th March 2007]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/Prefs.asp?video=stella-fur-psa>.
People. 1994. Lindsay Turns Anti-Fur. What’s your take on the fur debate? [online]. [Accessed 11th May 2007-05-11]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://offtherack.people.com/2006/11/lindsay_turned_.html>.
The British Fur Trade Association. 2003. History of Fur. [online]. [Accessed 11th May 2007]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://www.britishfur.com/main/education/History%20of%20fur>.

Book Sources

Grant, C., 2006. The no-nonsense guide to Animal Rights (No nonsense guides). New Internationalist Publications Ltd.
Laut, C. A., 1921. The fur trade of America. New York: Adamant Media Corporation. Chapter one, Page 1.
Nadeau, C., 2001. Fur Nation: From the Beaver to Brigette Bardot (Writing Coporealities). London: Routledge.
Wise. M. S., 2001. Rattling the cage: Toward legal rights for animals. United States of America: Perseus Publishing.