Fur and its Future in Fashion
The recent fashion trends donning New York City and Europe this past winter were not a mere sign of the times, but the tender sweet hum of the fat lady who is about to sing for a whole lot of people that will call it viscous slaughter, though they claimed they had always loved music. Whether you’re a wannabe mob wife, contemplating quiet luxury, or simply looking for a reliable winter boot - hunting season is officially over, leather and fur are back in style.
You heard it here first, folks… And to provide proximity, it never really left.
Fur and leather garments are some of the oldest discoveries of clothing in history, dating back to the Stone Age, where caveman couture consisted of spit-tanned, fur-trimmed loincloths, thongs, and coats. New York City itself would be nothing today without the long history of its fur trade, the city crest displays two beavers between a pilgrim and an Indigenous American, symbolizing the significance of the appropriated and commodified export that is fur. Fast forward to the current day, and you can find fur, leather, and animal derived garments dominating the runways of fashion houses big and small, ready-to-wear and couture.
Brands like LOEWE, Roberto Cavalli, Hermes, and Fendi continue to use animal based materials in their collections, many unwilling or uninterested in severing the ties of these historical house codes. For a brand like Hermes, disregarding their 187 year old lineage of leather goods would mean disregarding the meticulously honed and historically reverent leather craftsmanship, which in turn would damage their brand integrity entirely, and forsake its main revenue stream. On the other hand, Roberto Cavalli’s connection to animal derived materials was integral to his designs, he often referred to God as the best designer, and reflected his love of animals and nature by use of their byproducts in almost all of his collections. There would be no reason for either of these brands to abandon their renown and integrity for the sake of animal rights. And who could we possibly be to question the extremely educated quality and historical significance of Hermes’ leather goods, or the flagrant, artistic expressions of a man’s own relationship to God, such as Cavalli’s? Especially when the outcome is so good…
History and Politics
I say all this to paint the blood splattered picture that animal derived clothing has been an integral part of human nature, survival, and technology for almost our entire existence. Undeniably, leather is reliable and strong, fur is warm and protective, and throughout most of these past millions of years - and still for some today - it’s a means of surviving day to day.
Animal derived garments have not always been a symbol of the ultrawealthy, the frivolous, and the upper class, as it has been since fur’s commodification. For millions of years and for vastly different cultures around the world, the blood shed from an animal has been vital to human nature. And in America, it’s not just historical, it’s constitutional. Our second amendment right to bear arms, along with the express and extreme backing from the New York City founded National Rifle Association carries many concealed and implicit rights, including hunting. The federal protection of hunting implicitly protects the fur exchange, as byproducts of hunted animals would always be a commodity, and America has always been more interested in ready-to-wear profit over couture and handmade reverence.
Because of this, fur has been made a target for politicization, as well as the face of animal derived garments, though leather is a considerably higher commodity. American classics such as the Davy Crockett raccoon tail hat and home decor mounts have lingering histories of labels and insinuations, and the one that’s stuck is redneck. After the Revolutionary War, America set laws and businesses into function, expanding from the hunted fur to domesticized practices, and expanding to leather production as well. This was one of the first big shifts into the cruel cow chop shops we see today; higher production rates, more control and money - it was the start of capitalist genetic modification. As manufactured fur grew to be a top international export in the US, the public perception of hunted fur fell, as it was considerably less available due to ethics laws around hunting, and ran the risk of bullet holes or natural imperfections and inconsistent sizes. Thus, hunted byproducts fell to the pressure of the economic class divide, and its classification as redneck, and alignment with the second amendment, solidified throughout the 1800s to the current day.
Public perception, common misconceptions, and some truths, about animal derived clothing today comes from the emotionally charged rhetoric surrounding sustainability and animal rights, particularly the latter, and began to take mainstream grasp in the 1980s. PETA, the well known, outspoken, and controversial animal rights organization, was founded in 1980 and had forced its way into the cultural mainstream by 1990, garnering tons of attention and support by utilizing pop culture icons such as Pamela Anderson to promote anti fur and animal testing campaigns. Other tactics utilized by PETA include shock value imagery, borderline violent protests, and targeting young audiences who could be easily swayed into rage baited, biased information.
And for a while, it worked. Disgusting images of rabbits with ten infected, oozing eyes sewn into their bloody fur was an image the 90s could respond to. PETA did a lot of work to bring awareness and sway public opinion on companies utilizing animal testing, whether that be makeup, pharmaceuticals, or auto industry crash tests. These practices became taboo and controversial by the early 2000s, and animal rights became mainstream. And while it was very in fashion to stand against animal testing, PETA has garnered less success in terms of their anti-fur and animal derived clothing targets. Typical campaigns against animal use in the fashion industry include crashing runways with acrylic painted posters or dumping paint onto fur garments. People saw these types of protests to be more ruthless than radical, especially in the fashion community, where designer clothes were the victims. The whole thing exemplified waste, but PETA came off as unaware while the fashion industry gladly kept their title as frivolously ignorant. PETA continues to promote faux fur alternatives that are incredibly unsustainable, and the cracks start to show in the whole conundrum.
Current Day
Following the ideology of the 20 year trend cycle swing and in terms of human existence as a whole, PETA is a small blip in our timeline pushing unprofitable and baseline shallow rhetoric, and has never stood a real chance to something as human nature as food and water.
Prior to the cultural sustainability debate, there were no alternatives to real fur besides plastic, and the progress has been slow. Unfortunately, there is nothing as durable as the hardened skin of an animal, and nothing quite as resilient and fashionable as the soft pelted fur of one either. Many companies in the past few years have been granted funds to start researching plant based alternatives, but most are either still in design phases, inaccessible to the public, or utilize plastic because these alternatives just don’t hold up to the quality of a real leather or fur. This quality component is problematic for fully plastic based alternatives as well, especially since the turn of the century.
The increase of mass consumption due to fast fashion brands such as Shein, Zara, and Forever 21 have increased the production and decreased the quality of clothes in an unprecedented way. The UN reports that 60% of clothing in the world is made of plastic, and it hasn’t really been a long time coming. For 99.7% of human existence since the first caveman fashioned a dress, our clothes have been 100% natural. It is only in this .3% of clothing wearing history that the first plastic textile was made, and even then it took three more decades to indulge itself in mass production. Plastic became a cheap prostitute dancing in the red light for any businessman in the red to throw his last dollars at, praying he might turn a profit tomorrow. The cheaper fabric matched the already cheap labor, and by the 70s, it was all around accessible.
Within the past two decades, PETA’s cultural acceptance wavered as people started to consider what they push for; buying lower quality, plastic clothes instead of long lasting, quality garments that could actually decompose if disposed of properly, considering the tanning processes used. The quality of fast fashion garments have visibly diminished, some garments have the lifespan of five wears or less before falling apart. Oppositely, mummified remains from the Copper Age, around 3230 BC, still contain traces of animal fibers sewn together with hemp based chordage, which shows both the durability and natural decomposition of animal derived garments. Public perception of sustainable clothes now demonizes plastic more than fur or leather, but there is undeniable unease about the animal chop shops.
Solutions and the Future
The unfortunate issue with current sustainability media is rooted in their commitment to the blame game. Urgent toned messages about the Earth's imminent demise are beefed up with statistics and shoved down our throats as some sort of reactionary, cultural outcry and yet, the blame typically lies on the individual. Discussion surrounding overconsumption and unsustainable practices utilized by unavoidable corporations is typically directed at the consumer and not the said companies or the economic system that enables them. Most solutions mentioned are entirely inaccessible to the general public, and involve extensive lifestyle changes like becoming vegan, consuming more (sustainable) goods, and the confusing cycle continues.
In regards to animal derived fashion, participating or buying alternatives, nothing feels quite right. Fortunately there are solutions to this problem, and the main one lies within the understanding that we used to be participants in an ecosystem that we now control, and there are other options forward besides expansion. Sometimes the way towards the best future comes from looking at the past, Sankofa and such, understanding your roots to truly progress. Hunting and animal derived garments have been around before America, politics, and capitalism, the stereotypes surrounding hunting have only been used for profit and political division. Luckily, this makes hunted byproducts relatively inexpensive compared to any manufactured source, and a bit of a hidden gem. Small, family run businesses like Glacier Wear sell vast arrays of northeastern hides, pelts, and pieces in both raw materials and designed pieces, which opens up markets to both designers and consumers. Glacier Wear prices their goods depending on each animal's hunting season, which make sustainability terms like regional and seasonal shopping understandable and tangible. They also sell imperfect goods at reasonable prices, tailless weasel pelts starting at $6.95.
Other companies such as The Leather Guy tans meat industry byproducts, and sells them either whole or scrapped by the pound. Everything sold would otherwise be left for a landfill, which gives a real ethical spin on buying exotics. Many Indigenous communities also sell fur, hides, and animal parts, which is another way to not only shop regionally but to also put your dollar back into the Indigenous economy. Crazy Crow Trading Post offers a wealth of goods and useful information such as patterns, tools, and sourcing. All of these businesses represent true economically and environmentally sustainable practices, and bring a clear air of ethics to the smoggy, greenwashed consumer confusion of the fur and leather industry.
