This week, the British Fashion Council (BFC) announced that following a survey conducted with all London Fashion Week designers on the official catwalk and presentation schedule, no animal fur will be used at London Fashion Week (20-23 September).
Burberry has confirmed that it will no longer use real fur
The BFC survey results reflect a cultural change based on ideals and choices made by designer businesses, international brands as well as consumer sentiment, but also encouraged by the stance of multi-brand stores who are moving away from selling fur.
There has been an ongoing debate for years now about whether fur should be banned or not. Many countries such as the UK and Austria banned fur farming at the turn of the 21st century, and other countries such as Belgium, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic are in the process of phasing out fur farming, but this luxury product is still being used in the textile and fashion industry, that is until now.
Jumping on the fur bandwagon
As the textiles industry is attempting to move towards an eco-friendlier approach, more and more companies are starting to ditch fur.
For example, Burberry recently announced that it will no longer use real fur. The company has said that there will be no real fur in Riccardo Tisci’s debut collection for Burberry this month (September), and that it will phase out existing real fur products.
“Modern luxury means being socially and environmentally responsible,” says Marco Gobbetti, chief executive officer, Burberry.
“This belief is core to us at Burberry and key to our long-term success. We are committed to applying the same creativity to all parts of Burberry as we do to our products.”
This announcement was made at the same time that Burberry stated they will immediately stop the practice of destroying unsaleable products.
This week is also New York Fashion Week in the US. While some designers such as Sandy Liang and Monse have decided to include fur in their collections, others have chosen to take advantage of the event to show otherwise.
This year, Pelush and its #ReFAUXlution campaign is taking to the streets of Manhattan to address the new social climate we are facing today, inspired by animals, nature and activism. The fashion company believes that there is no need to use animal skins for fashion anymore; fur; leather; wool; silk; exotic skins; and feathers, as they are completely unnecessary and unjustifiable today.
Italian casualwear brand Napapijri has also fully eliminated the use of fur in its products. In 2015, the company stopped using fur in some of its garments and three years later it fizzled it out completely by turning to an eco-fur made of synthetic Kanecaron fibres, obtained with a process that doesn’t involve additives of chemicals.
Napapijri has also stopped using down and has developed an innovative new insulating material called THERMO-FIBRE. The fibre is composed of lightweight, air-trapping microspheres that create a soft, quilted texture.
Is there still a demand for fur?
In 2016, 75 million mink pelts and 15.25 million fox pelts were produced globally, equalling a value of US$3.44bn, according to Fur Europe. Despite the slowing down of the Chinese and Russian markets, the fur trade is still considered a successful luxury market.
However, in the past, the fur trade market has been driven by catwalks such as those at fashion weeks across the globe. If the fur-free London Fashion Week catches on, then potentially the market may start to dwindle.
