Is fur becoming fashionable again?

Paris_6

Lindsay Lohan may have taken to wearing a "No Fur" badge, and Topshop and Marks & Spencer have both signed up to the Fur Free Retailers initiative, but if sales alone are anything to go by, fur is currently more fashionable than it's been in years - in the UK at least.

According to an article in this morning's Independent, sales of real fur hit £500 million for the first time in history this year, with people in the UK buying 30% more fur than they did two years ago. Predictably, the fashion industry and celebs are getting the blame - Fendi, Julien MacDonald, Jean Paul Gaultier, John Galliano and Alexander McQueen have all been using real fur in recent collections, and it's being seen more often on famous backs. Paris Hilton currently tops PeTA's worst dressed celebrity list for her fondness for fur, although after being hit by flour bombs after a Julien MacDonald fashion show earlier this year, even Paris appears to be thinking twice, and has claimed to be fur-free (whilst still wearing fur, natch). We know that fur sure isn't popular here on Catwalk Queen at least - just why are those sales on the increase, then?

jo

No fur, no leather, no Australian wool, no meat, no animal product, no animal tested products. If you ban all these you can make a difference, small it may be. I gave up all these after getting an education on how others are ruthlessly abused. Animals eat each other for survival, humans do it out of habit, lazy habits, etc. Think about it, if you believe in Adam or Eve or Evolution (or both) we are all supposed to be vegan in the beginning. It makes me laugh people feel uncomfortable and upset when they see a lioness killing a young antelope, but tuck into a Sunday roast. Just because we have dominion over the planet, doesn't mean we get to abuse and destroy it and everything in it.

Dale

Yes, yes -- the animals being skinned alive and all that.

Like any good terrorist organization (how else would you describe it?), PETA does a fantastic job with propaganda.

Why would someone hoping to sell pelts for a small fortune risk harming them by mistreating animals? Even if you take the humanity out of it and look at it purely financially, it makes no sense to do so.

Why is it ok to eat animal flesh or use their skin for shoes, but not ok to use their fur for coats? Does anyone truly think the animal cares WHY it died?

Here's a news flash for everyone: the animals you buy from the supermarket and cook for dinner are treated far worse than any animal raised for fur. Giant industrial farms where livestock is concentrated as densely as possible (maximum profit, you know) are the norm in the food industry.

I respect people who stand up for what they believe in, as long as they truly believe in it -- not just blindly follow the crowd to be cool.

If you're against fur, you must be against leather and eating animals as well. You must be against human encroachment on natural areas (ie. the entire universe), you must be against taking a shower, taking medication or moving in the slightest (kills billions of microbes, viruses and bacteria every day).

What, no equal rights for microbes, viruses and bacteria? Guess they're not cute enough, huh.

But why stop there? Plants respond to emotional stimuli -- we couldn't possibly harm them either, could we? Surely there are enough minerals in dirt for us to eat and survive on, right? We don't need to eat any living thing. A nice bucket of dirt should do.

No? Didn't think so. It's called the food chain, people. ALL life feeds on other life. If you have a problem with that, take it up with God, not your local furrier.

So the next time you're eating your skinless chicken breast in your delicate little salad, remember how that animal spent its entire life in an 18 inch square cage so you could one of your daily meals.

At least a fur coat lasts a lifetime.

Jennifer

You don't understand why people overreact Esra? Maybe it's because these animals many times live in horrid conditions. Animals in China, including domestic dogs and cats, are being skinned alive for their fur. It's not like they're receiving an innocent little shave, their hides are being taken away from them so that people can look good.

Esra

Yes, fur is becoming fashionable again and I am happy with this. I love wearing fur. I don't understand why people overreact when it comes to furs. We utilize animals in many ways and fur is just one of them.