More Fur in Fashion

Designers embrace fur despite animal rights concerns
March 18, 2010,
Toronto Star,
Debra Black

Despite the recession and the animal rights movement, fur is once more returning to the fashion runways of both Europe and North America.

In New York recently almost two-thirds of the fashion designers at Fashion Week showed work using fur, according to the New York Times. It was widely popular in Europe.

And with Toronto’s LG Fashion Week for Fall/Winter 2010 on the horizon fur will also be front and centre – with the gala fashion show on March 28 the debut of a fur collection of coats, clothing and accessories.

The collection is the brain child of Izzy Camilleri, a Canadian designer known for the red fox coat she designed for Meryl Streep’s character in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’, and Adrian Mainella, a fashion journalist and image consultant.

Mainella believes the fashion industry has once more embraced fur because it has a low carbon footprint compared to some synthetic textiles. “People keep it for a lifetime typically,” he said. “A synthetic coat gets donated or thrown away.” The average Canadian, he said, will have between 35 and 50 winter coats made from synthetic materials and not biodegradable. Read More

There is nothing wrong with using our natural resources in a responsible manner and fur is a fantastic resource for humans to use. Many times this actually benefits the species where fur comes from. If you look at animal populations, the ones that are hunted for meat or fur many times have some of the highest populations as well.