Key takeaways:
- As an increasing number of luxury brands and retailers ban fur and exotic skins, stock of “vegan” products has increased by 258 per cent across the UK and US in 2019.
- In response, the fur industry is promoting fur as a sustainable and natural option by investing in industry-wide certification programmes and educational outreach.
- Fur is still in fashion, but critics question the use of the material as both natural and faux options fail to provide assured sustainability credentials.
In 2019, luxury brands and retailers disavowed fur. Prada, Phillip Lim, Farfetch and Macy’s, among others, joined an expanding group of industry leaders that already included Chanel, Burberry and Yoox Net-a-Porter Group in removing real animal fur from production and sales floors. Brands attribute the bans, which in some cases include other exotic skins like crocodile and snake, to consumer demand. In September, a poll of 2,000 British and American residents indicated that two-thirds of British adults and 47 per cent of US adults consider fur an inappropriate material.