For a long time wearing fur was decidedly out of fashion. Long gone were the glamorous movie stars and New York society ladies wearing stoles and minks. Instead we had PETA (people for the ethical treatment of animals) and supermodels and celebrities posing naked for PETA (because they’d rather be naked than wear fur), eggs were thrown at fashion shows and just about everybody was anti-fur.
But something has happened in recent months. Specifically, at fashion month with designers a plenty sending fur down the catwalk, including Emilio Pucci, Roksanda and House of Holland. Cool celebrities such as Beyonce, Rita Ora and Kate Moss are fans. Fashion publications all around the world declared fur to be a trend for winter.
Karl Lagerfeld, who designs for Fendi, Chanel and his own eponymous label was particularly notable for his use of fur.
“For me, as long as people eat meat and wear leather, I don’t get the message. It’s very easy to say no fur, no fur, no fur, but it’s an industry. Who will pay for all the unemployment of the people if you suppress the industry of fur?” he told The New York Times of his decision to use fur in his designs.
Interestingly, as The Telegraph pointed out, it’s not just the old guard of designer pushing fur, but younger and edgier designers – and they’re appealing to their equally young and edgy clientele.
What’s more, the sales figures for fur are matching the hype.
As The Telegraph in London reports, statistics from the global trade body for fur – the International Fur Federation (IFF) show that in 2013-2014, 87.2 million mink pelts were produced around the globe. Last year the IFF valued the global fur trade at the global trade at more than approx 50 billion Australian dollars.
As one fur trader told The Telegraph, “This is almost the golden age in fur.”
