Let's be honest, we all love the look and feel of real fur. But we also know the truth behind the immense cruelty that animals go through in order to be turned into a fur coat.
The fashion industry's debate of Faux Fur or Real Fur is a longstanding one, with both sides fighting for decades over their views. Pro-Faux Fur organizations view corporate greed, unethical business practices and cruelty against animals as an unnecessary business choice, whereas the International Fur Trade organizations claim their business model is sustainable and ‘natural’.
We hope that more consumers choose more ethical and sustainable products like ours and are open to listening to the facts of the fur industry.
About Faux Fur
Faux fur has been an alternative to animal fur for years, and over time it has evolved into the perfect substitute for fashion and other uses. As a cruelty-free and ethical product to use and wear, faux fur has taken the world by storm by alleviating peoples concern over animal rights and suffering.
To date, faux fur products have increasingly grown in popularity due to manufacturing advancements, which have improved their textures, leaving most people in awe when they realize your fur is faux. Instead of the stiff, thick and plastic-like feeling that was once faux fur, it has been replaced with luxurious, ultra-soft and fluffy fabric blends in order to give wearers the closest copy of the real thing. These new materials are what have been driving the faux fur trend and as time passes, the quality will keep on increasing.
As much as we love a great alternative, faux fur products do have a downside, as they are made from non-biodegradable, synthetic materials. Since these products do not decompose or break down, they can sit in landfills for years. Even though they may be viewed as ethical and cruelty free, faux fur products can be deemed unsustainable.
About Real Fur
Once upon a time, the fur corporations were right; killing animals was necessary in order to sustain life, but we no longer live in the 1800’s and therefor their argument that we need fur is no longer valid.
Each year, more than 40 million animals such as foxes, rabbits, racoons, minks, and sable are killed for their luxurious fur. About 85% of fur comes from factory farms, where they are bred and raised in tiny, filthy wire cages. Unable to move more than a few steps, these animals go insane, and the frustration of their caged life leads to self-mutilation and cannibalism. Until it’s their time to die, they live a life of immense pain.
In order to not damage the animals coat during slaughter, fur farms will gas, poison, electrocute or snap necks, resulting in extreme pain and suffering. We wont go into further details of these blatantly cruel killing methods, but a simple Youtube search is enough to make anyone sick. Once the animal is skinned, sometimes alive due to poor technique, their bodies are simply thrown out.
There are currently no federal humane slaughter laws to protect animals on fur farms and because the only thing fur farms care about is preserving the quality of the fur, they refuse to condemn their business practices.
Which do you choose, Faux Fur or Real Fur?
As a consumer, we have to be aware of our choices when buying fake fur or real fur.
Faux Fur advocates agree that synthetic materials are less than ideal, but in comparison to the environmental hazards in the fur manufacturing process alone; the CO2 emissions from housing and feeding tens of thousands of animals, manure runoff, and the use of formaldehyde and other toxic chemicals, is enough evidence that the alternative of using real fur is far worse. Along side the fact that it takes about 40 animals to make one real fur coat!
Both sides come with some compelling evidence, but for the regular consumer looking to buy a faux fur coat, it’s a lot of information to digest!
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