For the record, the following applies:
| Generation | Born | Current Ages |
|---|---|---|
| Gen Z | 1997 – 2012 | 12 – 27 |
| Millennials | 1981 – 1996 | 28 – 43 |
| Gen X | 1965 – 1980 | 44 – 59 |
| Boomers II (a/k/a Generation Jones)* | 1955 – 1964 | 60 – 69 |
| Boomers I* | 1946 – 1954 | 70 – 78 |
| Post War | 1928 – 1945 | 79 – 96 |
| WWII | 1922 – 1927 | 97 – 102 |
For Gen X and millennials wearing fur is a very divisive topic. The Times reports that even if they have a fur garment, they would not admit to it.
Gen Z are different
However, Gen Z have an entirely different set of rules as indicated by Lola Clark, the 18-year-old TikTok influencer and granddaughter of the fashion designer Ossie Clark. I guess she has some clout because of her father.
She claims that her friends think that real fur is cool again provided it is second-hand and vintage.
It appears that she regards herself as “eco-conscious” which I presume means concerned about the environment and wildlife. It appears that there is a group of eco-conscious youngsters wearing inherited and vintage-sourced pelts to parties. Yes, fur coats are the skin of an animal and I think people forget that sometimes.
The Times reports that they believe that real vintage fur is “more sustainable than plastic faux fuzz”. I’m not sure what the word “sustainable” means in this instance. Does it mean that it is harder wearing and more durable? Perhaps they mean that when you wear a vintage fur jacket or coat you are protecting animals because you’re not wearing a recently made fur coat which is from the back of an animal which was probably killed for the purpose.
I discovered that Frederica Labanca, 27, a London-based stylist can help me understand what sustainability means in this instance. She said:
“I am against new fur and what fur stands for. To wear something passed down from generation to generation has to be more sustainable and sentimental than wearing something new made of plastic fibres. Old fur keeps you warmer. It’s better for the environment and you. But people still don’t agree with it, even if it’s vintage.”
She is right about people not agreeing with it but the rest is wrong.
I think the argument for wearing old fur is incorrect because if you wear a vintage fur coat you are making a statement that wearing fur coats is acceptable. People who are less scrupulous about their principles might then drift away from a vintage fur coat to a modern fur coat. It undermines the concept that wearing the skin of an animal is immoral. This is a fundamental issue and Gen Z are muddying the waters.
Lola Clark said that, “It makes more sense to buy real fur but vintage. We (Lola and her mother] have one that was featured in a James Bond film. I bought it at the Ardingly antiques fair. It’s leopardprint; it’s pretty amazing.” I think Gen Z are making excuses as to why wearing vintage fur is okay. It is a mind game.
Lola Clark is a Central St Martin’s student and she collects pre-loved fur with her mum and sister.
Charity shops from Oxfam and Cancer Research do not stock for garments. In the UK, if you want to buy a vintage fur garment you’ve got to go to reputable antique and flea markets or you might look for them on Internet platforms such as eBay and Depop.
You might inherit the garment. Hannah was handed down a mink coat from her mother who bought it back in the 70s. She said that she thought about wearing it and it’s in great condition. When asked she tells people that it’s vintage.
RELATED: Gloves trimmed with cat fur for sale in Australia
Resembling a zoo
The Evening Standard claimed that London’s young cool crowd had “started to resemble a zoo” because they are wearing a lot of animal pelts.
The cost of second-hand fur can be high but that said, I can remember an article I wrote many years ago about fake fur gloves costing more than real fur gloves because the real fur came from cats and dogs in China where millions are killed and therefore the prices are very low.
Sadly, for me, Clark says that the resistance to buying a vintage fur coat is not a belief in veganism but because the price is too high!
The Gen Z attitude is apparently a shift and in defiance to the general anti-fur movement through which they’ve grown up.
Can you remember the David Bailey “Dumb Animals” campaign of Greenpeace in 1984?
I will stress again that I think Gen Zs attitude is unfortunate. I would like to see a much more principled approach to wearing fur from youngsters because they are the future.
PETA’s vice-president of programmes, Elisa Allen, said:
“Whether the animal died yesterday or decades ago, when someone wears fur, they appear to be endorsing a nasty industry that kills animals in crude ways, leaches toxic chemicals into waterways and devastates entire ecosystems. Anyone with left over fur from a bygone era can do some good with it by donating it to PETA to be used as bedding for orphaned animals or shipped overseas to help refugees in cold climates – only people struggling to survive have any excuse for wearing old furs.”
Brilliant statement as far as I am concerned.
The owner of Gucci, announced it would go fur free in 2021. Prada does not work with fur. Burberry, Versace and Chanel do not work with fur.
Millions
According to The Mirror newspaper, “more than 100 million animals… are kills each year for their fur with the creatures typically living in filthy, one-metre squared battery cages.” The newspaper is referring to fur farms in China.
An estimated 2 million cats and dogs are cruelly abusd in farms in China and killed for their fur annually. Much of this fur is turned into trim and trinkets. 10 million animals are trapped in the wild every year for the fur. This information comes from Animal Aid.
The point is that it is a massive market and it is massively cruel and there’s tons of abuse and cruelty and horrendous behaviour by people to commercialise the skin on the backs of these animals. Something which is entirely unacceptable to any decent-minded person. And yet it happens and continues to happen and will continue to happen in the future.
Gen Z should not be taking a compromised stance on fur. They need to be far more principled.
RELATED: Swiss Fur Trade Banned Jan 1st 2013
