Vegan Fur Is In

It’s warm, soft, and screams luxury, what’s not to love about fur? Well, everything, actually. Whichever way you look at it, fur is cruel and wasteful. There’s nothing fashionable about wearing another being’s skin, and if you love animals, this is one thing you need to banish from your wardrobe. Today I want to share some fur facts, and two vegan fur alternatives I’m sure you’ll love.

What’s behind that fur trim?

Back in olden times, wearing fur was a necessity. Without it, people would have perished from harsh winters. It was a fashion reserved for the privileged few, those able to afford it. Wearing fur was a status symbol, like wearing your wealth around your shoulders. The gorgeous movie star in her mink coat is an iconic image many fashionistas want to recreate. But at what price?

Today, the fur industry kills over 1 billion rabbits and 50 million other animals (including foxes, raccoons, seals, mink, cats and dogs) a year. These animals are either hunted and trapped in the wild, or raised on fur farms. Either way, they experience fear and pain, and all this for an item of clothing that is worn for a season and then tossed aside for the next trend.

Hunted

Around 10 million animals a year are trapped and killed for their fur. Methods include leg traps, which have been banned in 90 countries but is still used in the US, Canada and Russia. Steel traps clamp down on the animal’s leg, trapping it and leaving it to struggle for hours or days until the owner arrives to kill it, which he does by clubbing or suffocating (the focus is on not damaging the pelt, regardless of how traumatic this is for the animal). Animals have been known to try to free themselves at all costs, sometimes biting through their own flesh to amputate a limb and run away.

Other methods include drowning sets, specifically used for semi-aquatic animals like mink, beavers and muskrats. It can take up to 15 minutes for these animals to drown. There are also conibear traps, designed to instantly kill by breaking the animal’s neck - unfortunately this kind of trap doesn’t work for all animals, and can cause a slow and painful death. Of course, traps do not discriminate, and for every “target” animal, up to ten “non-target” animals are caught, like eagles, antelope, deer, even domestic dogs and cats. These are discarded as trash.

Tortured

The conditions are no better in fur farms. These naturally wild animals, used to roaming large territories, cannot adapt to being kept in cages barely larger than their own body-size. This leads to so much stress the animals end up self-mutilating and developing psychotic behaviors. Foxes literally bounce off the walls of their cages as they pace back and forth.

The cages are exposed to harsh weather, and their occupants have to withstand the excruciating pain of standing on wire until they are killed.

Being so ill-treated and stressed leads to many animals developing diseases, like Aleutian disease, which ends up killing around 20% of mink raised in fur farms. Another factor is cross-breeding to obtain new fur colors, which leads to genetic defects like deafness and nervous disorders.

In order to preserve the pelt, these animals are killed in ways no sentient being should ever have to suffer, like anal electrocution, gassing, neck breaking or poisoning.

Still think fur is fashionable? No, I didn’t think so. There is no kind or humane way to rip the skin off animals’ backs, no matter what fur trade associations say. When you buy fur, you are complicit to this torture.

A new fashion icon: Vegan Fur

If you love animals, then you need to banish fur from your wardrobe. But if you’re into fashion, what do you do when your outfit needs that fur coat final touch? Well, I’ve got some good news. Thanks to the rise of vegan fashion, you’ve got options.

You can rock that luxury fur look without supporting a cruel industry. These two designer brands are my go-to when I’m looking for cruelty-free vegan fur:

House of Fluff pride themselves on creating luxury faux fur clothes that keep you warm and last a lifetime. According to Vogue, no faux fur coat is as luxurious, carefully made or environmentally friendly as House of Fluff’s. If it’s good enough for Vogue, it gets my vote! They take every opportunity to make the world a better place, even repurposing their excess fabric into sweatshirts and collectibles. They’ve also partnered with a women’s co-op in El Salvador.

Unreal Fur is on a mission to end the use of real fur in the fashion industry by creating in-vogue high-quality faux fur. PETA approved, every Unreal Fur coat saves a life and spreads the message that it’s possible for timeless fashion to be completely cruelty-free. These guys are leading the vegan faux-volution!

Fashion is about looking good - but also feeling good and doing good. Real fur just doesn’t fit the bill. Vegan fur, on the other hand, really does. Time for a new coat?

MF, XOXO