2011 is going to be the year that the fur industry is undone, once and for all. Already, Norway has made history by banning fur from the runways at Oslo Fashion Week. Just check out the size of the list of fashion industry professionals in Oslo who are openly and vehemently against fur. This is huge considering the climate, the culture, and the proximity to so much of the neighboring fur-farming countries. Once again, we Americans are shamefully lagging behind much of the developed world when it comes to ethics. New York Fashion Week could learn a thing or two from Norway. Ecouterre reports:
Any fur that flies at Oslo Fashion Week in February will be strictly metaphorical. Norway has become the first country to ban animal pelts from its biannual runway event. The ban is a response to the efforts Mote Mot Pels (Fashion Against Fur), an anti-fur initiative that has received the support of more than 220 Norwegian fashion industry insiders who refuse to work with fur, including designers Leila Hafzi, Thomas Ryen of Undorn, and John Erling Vinnem of JohnnyLove, as well as Norwegian Elle, Norwegian Cosmopolitan, KK, and Det Nye.
Founded by designer Fam Irvoll, designer and stylist Kjell Nordström, and fashion editor Hilde Marstrander, in collaboration with the animal-rights group NOAH, Mote Mot Pels has been instrumental to shaping Oslo Fashion Week’s fur-free stance. “It has been a very natural choice for us,” says Paul Vasbotten, general manager of the Oslo Fashion Week. “We are doing this in order to increase ethical values in fashion.”
Often we hear about how “well managed” and “humane” regulated fur farms are in Europe. People make statements like, “it’s not in our economic interest to mistreat the animals”. Personally, I don’t believe that unhappy animals make bad fur any more than unhappy chickens make bad eggs. What’s worse, fur industry propaganda websites like furisgreen.com claim that the undercover documentation that animals rights activists risk their safety filming is staged in order to reap the millions of dollars in fund-raising profits that animal advocacy organizations “rake in” so that their staffs can lead lives of luxury (as if the fur industry itself weren’t money-driven). I tend to believe the motives of compassion-based non-profit organizations over the motives of for-profit businesses. The EFBA (European Fur Breeders Association) recently released a ridiculous video that is borderline comical. “Openness and transparency are our key words!”, the website yells with an exclamation-point. Goofy rock music plays as we see cute furry baby animals and people relaxing among the rows and rows of cages. At the end, we see images of young teens hugging some animal, and then suddenly, cut to: fur on the runway. Never once do they address how the fur goes from the back of the animal to the back of the runway model. Is killing even involved? Or does the fur magically and joyfully leap off of the animal and onto a runway after each animal gets hugged by kids? Try not to sway to and fro:
Oikeutta Eläimille and Animal Defenders International jointly released a new investigation on Finnish fur farm. The investigators went to 30 different fur farms in the summer and autumn of 2009. They recorded cruel neglect of animals and living conditions with no stimuli where caged animals displayed signs of extreme stress and anxiety. In Finland approximately three million animals are killed annually because of their fur at these farms. Sweden, Denmark, Great Britain, Holland, Switzerland and Croatia have either totally or partially banned fur farming by law.
What about Finland? It’s now time that the largest exporter of fox pelts and one of the largest fur producers in Europe come clean. It’s time to shut down the Finnish fur farming industry. Look at the videos and pictures of the investigation and demand for the ban! Take a look also at Animal Defenders International’s Fur Stop -site.
Any fur that flies at Oslo Fashion Week in February will be strictly metaphorical. Norway has become the first country to ban animal pelts from its biannual runway event. The ban is a response to the efforts Mote Mot Pels (Fashion Against Fur), an anti-fur initiative that has received the support of more than 220 Norwegian fashion industry insiders who refuse to work with fur, including designers Leila Hafzi, Thomas Ryen of Undorn, and John Erling Vinnem of JohnnyLove, as well as Norwegian Elle, Norwegian Cosmopolitan, KK, and Det Nye.
