Opinion: Fur Has No Place in 2015 Fashion
It's that time of the year again: cold weather, New York and Paris Fashion Week. The occasion to see many fashionistas wearing fur coats, winter jackets and other accessories made out of animals. As autumn arrives don't forget the facts: whether it came from an animal on a fur farm, every fur coat caused an animal tremendous suffering and took away a life.
The bloody fur business has been a longtime debate in the fashion industry, yet, the vegan trend for food is now applying to clothing with the widespread hashtag #WearVegan. The recent Hermès Birkin bag scandal, pointed out by PETA's breaking investigation of crocodiles farms resulted of a strongly reaction from the international community. The fashion icon and inspiration behind the Birkin bag, Jane Birkin demanded the handbag to be renamed. No matter the what Hermès decides, the conversation for animal rights has been brought to the public and it's time to talk about.
Reasons not to wear fur are well known nowadays: animals killed for fur are often cramped to filthy cages for their entire lives, and farmers use the cheapest killing methods they can. Besides, the globalization of fur trade has made it impossible to know where the products really come from. China supplies more than half of the total fur exports. This fur is often deliberately mislabeled since they are also using dogs and cats, who were maybe someone's beloved companion, stolen to be made into a fur coat. So would you wear your dog? In case you still need some convincing, this video might help.