The Big Questions: Why are animals suffering for their skin? Should designers use synthetic alternatives?
Megan Packer | @meganannepacker
Why are we asking this now?
In February, the animal rights group Surge, launched a Change.org petition just weeks before London Fashion Week in attempt to ban designers from using real fur items on the catwalk. Over the first two weeks the petition received more than 45,000 signatures. Two days before the Spring/Summer collections were displayed, the number of names on the list doubled and have since increased to over 100,000.
Two weeks ago a group of Surge activists marched into the headquarters of the British Fashion Council. Ed Winters, Co-founder of Surge, got the attention of a council representative and is now waiting for a face-to-face meeting to discuss the issues surrounding the fur industry.
“London Fashion Week is at the top of the fashion world in the UK. If we can go straight to the top and remove the use of fur from there it will have a huge influence on the amount of fur used everywhere else,” he explains.
Winters is distressed by the amount of real fur products that circulate around London and is hoping that the meeting will encourage the British Fashion Council to want to implement a ban on the use of real fur from London Fashion Week. The collections set a standard and have such a big influence on the number of fur materials that designers and high street stores use.
What are the most common types of animals that are used for fur?
The use of real fur is driven by fashion trends and therefore it depends what is ‘in fashion’ for that given season. By far the most favoured type of fur comes from the wild animal, mink. It is used by the higher end of the fashion industry, closely followed by fox and raccoon. Rabbits are also a popular animal used in fur farming but they are often used in high street brands and market products.
What are the advantages of using real fur?
Mike Moser, CEO of the British Fur Trade Association, says that the hair of animals used for fur lies naturally. This means that the designers are able to be much more creative during the production process of new collections and fashion lines. “Fur gives the designers a unique tool. It is tactile and adds a dimension that no other fabric can do,” he explains.
The fur industry has a positive impact on the British economy. Adding a real fur trim or pom-pom to an item of clothing immediately increases its value and therefore the profitability. Mark Glover, Director of Respect for Animals says that there is such a high demand for fur because it is a multi-billion pound a year industry.
What does this mean for the animals involved?
Animals that are bred and killed in fur farms have no quality of life. They are wild, undomesticated animals and being kept in caged conditions can send them insane. They suffer from physical injuries because of the bare mesh cages and aggressive cage mates.
Isobel McNally, Campaigns Manager at the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade (CAFT), says that the animals suffer from psychological damage because they are subject to conditions that do not meet their needs. “Solitary animals like mink are forced to live in groups and are denied the swimming water they crave.”
McNally says that after spending their lives in cages, they are either killed for their skin by gassing, anal electrocution or strangling. These particular methods cause the animal to go into cardiac arrest and therefore do not affect the quality of their fur. These forms of killing can sometimes only render the animal unconscious and often the animals wake up while they are being skinned.
The life span of animals used for fur depends on the species. It is often the situation that they are killed during their adolescence as the quality of their fur is at its best and suppliers will make a better profit. McNally explains that in some cases the animals can die earlier due to the conditions that they endure: either starvation, infection or the nature of their cage mates.
What do the animal rights activists have to say?
Many campaigners regard the designers to be as much at fault as the farmers who cage and skin the animals. They believe that the designers are more concerned about glamour, luxury and brands. Therefore they contribute towards the killing of those animals for their fur, while ignoring their suffering. “They have the blood of those animals on their hands every bit as much as those who did the killing,” protests Glover.
Some celebrities endorse the use of animal fur which encourages the designers to continue to use it in their collections. However, this is not always the case as some designers refuse to use animal fur in their products. Armani and Kooples have made the decision, in the past year, to stop using real fur in their work.
Winters says that the most shocking aspect of the use of fur is how unnecessary it is. It exists for an industry that consists of vanity and egos. “These animals are not eaten; their fur is not a bi-product of meat in the sense that leather is. These procedures are so horrific, and even though I see all animal exploitation as wrong, fur really disgusts me for these reasons,” he explains.
And what about the designers, models and suppliers?
The actual number of designers that have announced they are no longer using fur and shearling is relatively small. In the 2016 Autumn/Winter fashion weeks in London, Paris and Milan, 70 percent of designers used real fur products on the catwalk.
Ted Le Sueur, a British model, is a vegetarian and struggles to balance his morals and the requirements of his job. Although it is his personal preference to not wear fur in his everyday life, he is not in a position to say no to a client. Le Sueur says that designers have close to a dozen collections each year and a lot of eager models wishing to work with them. “Without a moment of hesitation and with ease, they would find another model to work with.”
Rebecca Bradley founder of a furrier and design company, Rebecca Bradley London, says that replacing real fur with the use of synthetic alternatives is not as beneficial as it may seem. “Faux fur is not breathable, it has a huge impact on the environment in its production and disposal, and in my opinion is nowhere near as beautiful and dynamic.”
How much do real fur products cost?
The price of the item is determined by the final product. An entire fur coat can be sold for thousands of pounds, whereas fur lining on a hood or hat would cost considerably less. In Europe, nearly all animal fur is sold at international auctions and those who attend are very experienced buyers. Fur that is needed for a bobble hat would usually sell for £50, but a full sable coat would often be auctioned at £50,000.
The cost is largely reliant on the quality of the fur. If the animal is unwell, the worth of the fur decreases much more than it would if the animal was content. “Anyone who has a pet at home will know that when they are not well, one of the first signs is that their coat looks lifeless,” explains Moser. Therefore, it is in the farmers’ best interest to ensure some standard of welfare because if not, he would not make much profit due to the low standards.
He explains that most animal rights supports will consider any standards as unethical, even if the conditions that the animal is subject to are regulated by the farmers. “The killing of animals is a very emotive subject and for some it is never acceptable, particularly the animal rights groups.”
Are there any laws in place to protect the welfare of animals?
Fur farming is illegal in the UK. It is said to be unlawful to keep animals in cages and use their skin to produce luxury items. However, this does not stop the materials being imported and sold in the country.
There are no strict laws in place to protect animals who are bred and kept on fur farms. Moser says that the methods used to kill the animals are regulated. The animals can only be killed using specific approaches: either gassing or electrocution. “These methods are based on the objectivity of animal welfare research and the work of independent welfare scientists.
“I have myself visited fur farms on five continents and witnessed these methods in action. At no time did I witness cruelty of any kind,” he urges. However, just because a method is regulated does not mean that it is fair to conduct it, especially on animals who have no choice to agree or object.
Megan Packer 
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