Long live our furry, fluffy friends! On the evening of the 11th of October, Gucci’s CEO, Marco Bizzarri, announced that the luxury fashion brand was joining the fur-free alliance in the new year. This means the brand is banning its use of the furs of specially bred or caught animals such as mink, coyote, raccoon dog, fox, rabbit, and karakul. This goes against a long history of the brand’s own conventions and the luxury fashion market as a whole. However, this is just a small dent in the 50 million animals slaughtered in the name of fashion annually.
Photo by Matthew Henry
Not only is this decision environmentally friendly, but it is also socially responsible. Bizzarri himself said that, with modern technology, there is not really a reason to be using fur anymore. With all the luxurious alternatives now available, there is no real need. But why does the industry hold on so tightly to their mink muffs and fox scarves?
With high street brands like Marks & Spencer, H&M, Topshop, Mango and luxury labels like Stella McCartney, Armani, Vivian Westwood, and Calvin Klein pledging (and succeeding) to be fur-free, one would expect the trend to catch on. However, the fur trade has doubled since the 1990s, just a few years after anti-fur activists were most vigorous. The largest factor causing this growth in the market has not been the fashion designers themselves, but rather the fur traders rebranding the business to seem more natural, sustainable, and luxurious. It has worked, as we can see with the fur pompoms trend that has made its way onto many handbags and keychains in the last year. Not only this, it is also a numbers game. Fur suppliers have been sponsoring designers to use their products and these products are sold for mini-fortunes. Fur has made its way from the top down back into the mainstream.
But it seems like the younger generations are fighting back. Gucci’s Bizzarri expressed this idea when he disclosed that “Young kids are more intelligent and more confident than us.” To gain this insight, Gucci focused on people under 30 and got their opinions on what the brand was doing wrong. By keeping in touch with the younger generations, fashion labels can keep up with the unique challenges of our time. Stella McCartney’s eponymous label was founded in 2001, when she was 30, grounded in her beliefs not to use real fur or leather. At the time, investors said she would never be able to make an accessories line. However, she proved them wrong and was able to make one of the most iconic shoulder bags in fashion, on top of having successful women’s, men’s, and children’s lines. This is the new ideology: fur is indeed out of fashion.
Maybe it’s because the younger generation grew up watching 101 Dalmatians, but already they have shown that working from the bottom up can combat the use of fur for fashion. By having a brand as successful and as far-reaching as Gucci on the side of the anti-fur movement, it is more than likely that other important labels will follow the example. The fashion industry is therefore sure to change, so as to be on the same level as one of its top labels.