Vogue Says That “Fashion Finally Needs to Disown Fur” in Light of COVID-19

Fashion magazine Vogue has just come out strongly anti-fur, stating that "fashion finally needs to disown fur" due to the link between the fur industry and zoonotic diseases like COVID-19. The publication has previously received a lot of criticism for its use of animal skins and furs, but in this recent piece, writer Rosalind Jana says the fashion industry needs to say goodbye to the animal material in favor of faux.

The article states Denmark’s decision to cull all of the country's farmed mink after mutated strains of the coronavirus has put the fashion industry ‘under close scrutiny’ and reveals the potential role that animal materials can cause in pandemic outbreaks.

“No longer the marker of luxury it was, fur is now often seen as a retrograde product mired in unjustifiable ethical issues. The rise of innovative fur alternatives has also helped.”

Designers Have Started to Shed Use of Animal Materials

Jana goes on to discuss the seeming decline in fur not only in popularity but also how many influential brands and sellers in the fashion industry have been pledging to stop using fur. “High profile brands including Prada, Burberry, Gucci, Chanel, Versace, Armani, and DKNY have all pledged to stop using fur altogether: Some ceasing use of all pelts including mink, chinchilla, and rabbit, with others going even further and halting production of anything made of exotic animal skins and angora, too.”

Along with these brands pledging to discontinue their use of fur, many popular sellers like Net-a-Porter had stopped selling fur in 2017. Last year, Farfetch and Macy’s announced that they would stop selling fur. Brands like Stella McCartney have pioneered sustainable, high fashion items made from animal-friendly materials since its creation. Stella herself is a vegetarian and does not use leather or fur in her designs.

Jana ended the Vogue piece with some advice for the industry, writing, “As the pandemic continues to put strain on an already ailing industry, perhaps it also provides a useful moment to pause and once more question the validity of fur’s presence in the fashion industry at all. This could be the time to say goodbye to it — for good.”