or thousands of years, the human species has used fur for numerous purposes: to cover sensitive parts of the body, to protect the skin from the sun, to stay warm, for decorative purposes, for fashion, and others.
400 000 years ago,for the Neanderthal, or Homo neanderthalensis, it was a necessity to wear fur over the skin, since they lived in extreme temperatures at times. However, nowadays, we can say that using fur is no longer an indispensability, it is a choice.
For years there have been protests against brands using these types of materials to make clothes, namely organized by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), a non-governmental organization that focuses on animal’s rights. People protest on behalf of the animals, and also because the chemicals used to manufacture these fashion items are harmful to the environment.
Thankfully, many brands have been understanding the negative impact that fur has on this world, and thus have been embracing the fur-free movement, using faux-fur instead of real fur in their collections. These faux-fur materials have increased in quality and are currently considered a luxury item.
The most recent luxury brand ready to endorse this fur-free approach is Prada, in collaboration with the Fur Free Alliance, a coalition committed to ending animal cruelty. This change will be implemented in the Spring/Summer 2020 Women’s Collection, which will be presented in a fashion show during Milan’s Fashion Week, which took place on September 17th to September 23rd, 2019.
Though, Prada is still going to sell the products made with real fur that are already in the market, Prada will be joining many luxury brands already on the fur free list, such as, Ralph Lauren, that made the change as early as 2006; Tommy Hilfiger and Vivienne Westwood, both taking action in 2007; Giorgio Armani, that embraced the movement in 2016; in 2017 was Gucci’s turn to join the party, and 2018 was the year that Michael Kors made the same decision.
The year of 2019 was the year that most brands, including Versace, Prada and Maison Margiela (run by high fashion British designer, John Galliano) made it to the list. Stella McCartney is someone to be praised, since she never used real fur in the designs for her brand created back in 2001. Calvin Klein’s brand has been fur-free since the early 90’s, specifically 1994.
There are so many quality brands are manufacturing quality faux fur, that real fur is becoming an unnecessary and immoral purchase of the 21st century.
If you want to protect animals and help the environment, ditch the real fur. Instead, invest in some fashionable faux fur!
