Faux fur is not biodegradable, but it’s kinder in an industry that skins animals alive and sometimes electrocutes them to avoid ‘damaging the fur’ for high society. Animals used include foxes, rabbits, stoats (due to their fur going pure white in winter), raccoons and squirrels.
If you run a fashion or gift shop, sign up to Fur Free Retailer, and place the free ‘fox logo’ in your window, to show you don’t sell fur (DNA tests on ‘fake fur trim’ found some to be real). Many people also choose to boycott Canadian seafood, until the baby seal cull ends.
If you have old fur coats stashed in the attic, give them to local wildlife shelters, where volunteers cut them up and make them into large squares of fur. These ‘surrogate mums’ often are very comforting to orphaned wildlife. Many animals settle quickly, once snuggled up to real fur. Inspired by the international program Coats for Cubs.
Should You Wear Fake Fur?
Public opinion differs on this. Some say never to wear it, as it encourages the fashion. Having said that, many people continue to wear fur and so it’s good to offer alternatives. Fabulous Furs offers fake fur coats and jackets, a company founded years ago by a woman who was on her way to buy a fur coat, until she heard a radio program about kittens about to be killed, to make fur coats. Others prefer not to wear fake fur, thinking it may encourage the fashion. All her coats have the same R-value (in other words, they are just as warm).
A few years ago, this company did have suede for some coats, but with the new times, it appears these have disappeared. Just check through the extensive line before purchase.
Which Fashion Brands Still Use Fur?
Panaprium has an extensive look at which brands are still using real fur, so you know which ones to boycott until they change policy. Note that some still use other animal skins like leather, suede and wool. Many well-known fashion brands and designers have stopped using real fur completely. The post lists 28 brands that still use fur.
Of course, other shops to boycott are those that sell fur like Harrods. Singer Leona Lewis famously refused to turn on the Christmas lights, over the department store’s policy. Money speaks – so use your purchasing power to go elsewhere.
