The last Labour government banned fur farming in the UK, and Labour has pledged its support for a FurFreeBritain in order to send a message that we will not trade in such horrendous treatment of animals. We urge the government to signal their commitment to a UK fur sales ban, starting with a public consultation.
State to ban the sale of animal fur. Governor Gavin Millions of animals suffer and die every year for fashion. Confined in small, wire-mesh cages on factory farms or captured by brutal metal traps in the wild, their fur is turned into frivolous keychain trinkets or trim on coats and hats. How many animals are killed globally on fur farms? Each year, around one hundred million animals are bred and killed Share Click to share on Facebook Opens in new window Click to share on Twitter Opens in new window Click to email this to a friend Opens in new window.
Raccoon dog on a fur farm in a country in Asia that supplies fur to the U. Additionally, rabbits are also killed for their fur, likely to be in the hundreds of millions. On fur farms, animals spend their entire lives in tiny wire battery cages.
Foxes are typically kept in cages that are just one metre squared, thousands of times smaller than their territories would be in the wild. This would be like a person being forced to live their entire life in a lift.
We firmly believe everyone has the right to their own individual choice with fur. What we do want, however, is to assure everyone that skinning animals alive is unacceptable, barbaric, utterly impractical, and nothing to do with the fur items found in shops and on catwalks around the world. Follow Mark Oaten on Twitter: www. Skip to content. Related posts. Sign up for WWD news straight to your inbox every day. All Rights reserved. Fashion Moore From L.
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Most furs have two types of hair — long, shiny guard hairs and short, fine underfur. The guard hairs are what we usually see, and they protect the animal from branches and other obstacles, while the dense, soft underfur does most of the insulating.
So furs with delicate guard hairs, like fox, or none at all, like chinchilla, can be lightweight and warm but are fragile, requiring lots of tender loving care. The most popular furs — including mink, beaver, marten Canadian sable , coyote, and others — combine beautiful, protective guard hair with the warmth of soft, dense underfur.
This reduces the weight of the garment, and provides a sleeker silhouette while maintaining much of the warmth. A shearling coat is made from sheepskin , with the wool sheared down to reduce bulkiness. Think Uggs. This is how most furs were once worn when warmth was the primary concern.
While beautiful, these furs are not much warmer than a good leather coat. In any case, it makes you look like, well, a caribou. In summary, if keeping warm is absolutely paramount in your decision-making, check out what the pros use: mushers, polar explorers, and ice fishermen. But if you want to stay cozy while looking great in normal winter conditions, most popular furs will do the job. Scenario 1: Ice-fishing in Nunavut.
Wolverine is considered by Arctic Inuit to be the most effective hood ruff, but wolf, coyote or fox also work well. Research suggests that the uneven length of natural fur hairs disrupts air currents that can rob heat from around the face. You want to be warm and look spectacular, while doing nothing more strenuous than raising your glass. For really chilly evenings, consider a fox or, better still, a chinchilla jacket.
Despite being ultra-lightweight and super soft, chinchilla has extraordinarily dense underfur. Pair yourself with a ruggedly handsome man in coyote or long-hair unsheared beaver for the full experience! Keeping dry is part of keeping warm, because being wet greatly increases the wind chill effect. Flat furs are the most water-resistant of all furs because they are nothing but guard hairs. The most durable of these is sealskin. But remember that because flat furs have no underfur, they are not that warm.
Also, because the leather is quite thick, they are not light-weight, and are not suited to figure-hugging garments. Note: Sealskin cannot be sold or imported into the US. This law was implemented in , before modern regulations were in place to ensure sustainable hunting practices; it has unfortunately not yet been amended. Another way to keep warm and dry is to wear a reversed fur, or a jacket made with a water-resistant material and a fur lining. The most common reversed fur is shearling.
Once bulky think WWI aviator jackets , they are now made in a wide range of beautiful and sophisticated styles. Fur-lined raincoats or jackets can be worn year-round if you opt for a removable lining. While full fur coats are not ideal for heavy rain, most good-quality beaver, muskrat, marten and other furs have long guard hairs whose natural oiliness repels water to a certain extent.
If your furs get wet, never dry them near radiators or intense heat. Just shake off excess water and hang your garment to dry slowly with good ventilation. But some are more durable than others. The least durable are furs without strong guard hairs, such as rabbit and chinchilla, which may shed if rubbed a lot think shoulder bag straps. The most durable are otter, beaver, and mink, with raccoon, coyote, and marten not far behind.
Natural furs tend to last longer than those that have been sheared, plucked, or dyed. So, you want a jacket that can survive 20 years of real-life use before being passed on to your son or daughter? Mink is hard to beat, but you can also try long-hair or sheared beaver, marten, coyote, raccoon, or fisher.
Are you an attention grabber, or do you prefer to be discreet? For men, long-hair beaver, fisher and coyote are bulkier and coarser, and often used for parka trim, but in a full-length coat give instant Mountain Man credibility. For more sophisticated elegance, nothing beats mink. But sheared furs — or a fur-lined jacket or parka — also give you the luxury and warmth of fur without making a big deal about it. For those who want something new, technological advances mean designers now have more room for creative expression than ever before.
The classic mink coat has been reinvented for a more modern look, but all furs can now be transformed with shearing, leathering, knitting, intarsia, dyeing and many other techniques.
Knitted fur is also very light, and as flexible as a woollen sweater. Entry-level fur garments have two fewer zeroes, and accessories are half that again. The main factors determining cost are the type of fur, the quality of the pelts, the size of the garment, and the processing and manufacturing techniques required to make it. The price of the same fur type can vary widely, depending on the quality of the pelts used and the workmanship involved. Top-quality mink, sable, marten Canadian sable , fisher, bobcat, lynx, and chinchilla are some higher-priced furs.
Muskrat, possum, raccoon, and good-quality shearling may cost half that. As for size, obviously a full-length coat costs more than a jacket, which costs more than a vest, and so on down. Many fur fans start out with fur-trimmed hoods, collars, scarves or mittens, which are not only affordable but also flexible in how they are worn.
A fur vest, for example, can be worn under a jacket in winter, or on its own in spring. Another cost factor to consider is cleaning. Darker furs hide dirt better, while long guard hairs are good at repelling dirt that might otherwise get stuck in the underfur. Bottom line: take your time when choosing the best fur for you. Visit several boutiques and, ideally, a specialized retail furrier. Fur-working techniques and styling have changed so much over recent years that you will be surprised by the wide range of choices available.
The research is a pleasure in itself. The price of a fur coat reflects many hours of skilled work required to produce it. Before designers ever see the pelts, there is the effort and knowledge of the trapper or fur farmer. The sewing and finishing stages are done by experienced technicians using specialized skills that have been perfected over generations. Because furs are created by nature, no two pelts are exactly alike.
The genius of furriers is their ability to create a homogenous fabric-like material, while skillfully using the natural character of the skins to enhance the design of each garment. The production of a beautiful fur coat may require hours of skilled labor, or more. That depends on the type of fur. It is not unusual to see well-made mink coats that are still in good condition after or more years of use. Beaver and Persian karakul Lamb , as well as raccoon and coyote are also very durable furs.
Chinchilla, the softest of all the furs, is more fragile. The use you can get from your fur is further extended by remodeling. Don't worry if your fur coat looks outdated. One of the outstanding advantages of fur is that it can be remodeled according to the latest fashion trends. You can now easily give a new life to an old fur coat by completely transforming it: the coat is taken apart and restyled, the fur is sheared and dyed and a completely new look is created.
Older furs can be recycled into vests, hats, pillows, knapsacks and a whole range of beautiful and practical new products. There are a few key elements that are important to keep in mind when browsing for vintage furs. First, examine the piece carefully.
Make sure there are no tears, that the hair does not come off easily and that the fur has not yellowed. This may mean that the fur has begun to oxidize, which is something you want to avoid. Secondly, the leather must be supple and the fur soft. If the leather is brittle and crunchy, or if the back of the pelts do not have any elasticity, then the fur is nearing the end of its life and you should pass. The best way to ensure that your fur will last for many years is to have it professionally cleaned and stored through the off-season by your local retail furrier in a temperature- and humidity-controlled storage vault.
Rabbit fur has long been used to produce apparel and accessories, but it is not very durable and cannot compete with furs like mink or fox. Most of the high-quality rabbit fur is produced in Europe, particularly Spain and France, while China produces a more commercial grade. Production in North America is artisanal only. In North America, there was a thriving commercial market for rabbit fur in the first half of the 20 th century when it was often dyed and passed off as an inexpensive imitation of more costly furs.
However, with the tightening up of labelling laws and greatly increased availability of farmed mink, the use of rabbit fur declined and today there is no commercial market in North America. Far more important nowadays is the market for wool produced from Angora rabbits, which are specifically bred for this purpose. But as only the hair is used, not the skin, this does not qualify as fur. Over the years trappers have sought to improve their traps so they would be both humane and capture-efficient.
Today, foothold traps are used for different reasons like research and animal relocation. Traps are designed to hold an animal without causing injury. Farmed mink eat a number of by-products, and it varies from area to area. In the Midwest we have a lot of cheese. And in that case, this is all product that is not fit for human consumption.
And then also the by-products from the pork and poultry and beef industry. In some areas, animals that once existed no longer exist and some provincial and federal organizations decided to re-introduce animals to those areas.
In order to reintroduce an animal to an area, the animal needs to be trapped and caught from other areas. The live holding device that is used to do this is a trap, and this is how traps are used for relocation of animals. The US mink industry operates under a strict set of guidelines for best management practices. There is a myriad of laws, both at state and federal level to prevent animal cruelty and promote animal welfare.
Mink farmers must abide by these laws like other sectors of farming. If cases of abuse or neglect arise — and they are very rare -- they have consequences, just like for anyone else. Furthermore, Fur Commission USA has developed standards for animal care and certifies mink farms that meet or exceed them. Canadian mink and fox farmers — like other sectors of animal agriculture -- follow recently updated Code of Practice to ensure the welfare of their animals.
The Codes of Practice were developed by veterinarians, animal scientists, farmers and animal-welfare authorities and provide farmers with clear guidelines for raising healthy mink.
Under the auspices of the National Farm Animal Care Council, the industry is now developing an inspection and certification system to provide additional assurance that the codes are being properly implemented in farms across the country. While most people eat meat, some suggest that using animals for other purposes may be less defensible. From an ethical perspective, however, what is important for the animal is that it be raised and, if necessary, slaughtered in a humane way.
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