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Vocapedia > Arts > Fashion, clothing > Fashion designers

 

 

 

Alexander McQueen and his his mum, Joyce.

 

Photograph: Dan Chung

 

 Alexander McQueen: into the light

 

Alexander McQueen

was defined by his dark, even menacing vision.

 

Five years after his suicide,

Jess Cartner-Morley discovers

that behind his apparent nihilism

was a passion for life

G

Tuesday 10 February 2015        06.00 GMT

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/feb/10/
alexander-mcqueen-into-the-light 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jason Wu        NYT        3 September 2014

 

 

 

 

Jason Wu        Video        In the Studio        The New York Times        3 September 2014

 

Jason Wu chats with Vanessa Friedman about his evolution

from a doll clothing designer working out of his living room

to an established fashion designer

with a sizable and sophisticated showroom.

 

Produced by: Shayla Harris and Vanessa Friedman

Watch more videos at: http://nytimes.com/video

 

YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR4WKfpn9us&list=UUqnbDFdCpuN8CMEg0VuEBqA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

fashion designers        UK

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/fashion/video/2011/sep/19/matthew-williamson-london-fashion-week

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

women designers        UK

 

http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2014/sep/02/luella-bartley-katie-hillier-marc-jacobs

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/sep/25/stella-mccartney-phoebe-philo-hannah-macgibbon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Luella Bartley and Katie Hillier        UK

 

http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/luella-bartley

 

 

http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2014/sep/02/luella-bartley-katie-hillier-marc-jacobs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

fashion designer > John Galliano

 

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/john-galliano

 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2018/feb/27/
john-galliano-profile-1986 

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/fashion/shortcuts/2013/jan/18/fashion-forgave-john-galliano

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

fashion designer > Stella McCartney

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/stella-mccartney 

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2011/sep/25/observer-profile-stella-mccartney

 

 

 

 

fashion designer > Hedi Slimane

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/10/fashion/
hedi-slimane-designer-turned-photographer-at-the-top-of-his-game-again.html

 

 

 

 

fashion designer > Marc Jacobs

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/feb/15/new-york-fashion-week-marc-jacobs

 

 

 

 

fashion designer > Tom Ford

https://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/tom-ford 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/10/fashion/10TOM.html

 

 

 

 

fashion designer > Ozwald Boateng

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/video/2010/sep/24/londonfashionweek-fashion

 

 

 

 

fashion designer > Paul Smith

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/video/2010/feb/24/paul-smith-fashion-designer

 

 

 

 

UK > Judy Blame (born Christopher Stuart Barnes)    1960-2018        USA

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/03/
fashion/judy-blame-london-fashion-jeweler-stylist-death-remembrance.html

 

 

 

 

Gustave Tassell        USA        1926-2014

 

fashion designer

whose elegantly urbane creations

were favored

by some of the most glamorous,

socially prominent women of the 1960s

— notably Jacqueline Kennedy,

who famously wore one

while riding an elephant —

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/23/fashion/
gustave-tassell-who-clothed-elegant-women-of-the-60s-dies-at-88.html

 

 

 

 

James Van Doren        USA        1939-2011

 

He designed the tenacious shoe

that became a mainstay

of California skateboard culture

— and which touched off a national fad

after Sean Penn wore

a black-and-white-checked pair

in the movie

“Fast Times at Ridgemont High” —

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/06/business/
james-van-doren-dies-at-72-created-vans-canvas-shoes.html

 

 

 

 

Bijan Pakzad        USA        1940-2011

 

ritzy fashion designer

whose by-appointment-only Rodeo Drive boutique

is billed as “the most expensive store in the world”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/
business/19pakzad.html

 

 

 

 

Charles Craig Nolan        USA        1957-2011

 

fashion designer

who proudly wore his politics on his sleeve,

and also on his runway

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/fashion/31nolan.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

fashion designer > Alexander McQueen        1969-2010

 

https://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/alexander-mcqueen 

 

 

http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/feb/10/alexander-mcqueen-into-the-light

http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/jan/11/alexander-mcqueen-punk-pinstripe-savage-beauty

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/fashion/2013/jan/08/jonathan-saunders-autumn-menswear-collection

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/fashion/gallery/2012/nov/29/alexander-mcqueen

 

http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2011/04/20/chris-hondros-portfolio.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/interactive/2011/jan/20/
alexander-mcqueen-menswear-audio-slideshow

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/dec/07/fashion-alexa-chung

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/feb/17/alexander-mcqueen-hanged-wardrobe-inquest

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/feb/11/alexander-mcqueen-dies-fashion-designer

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/video/2010/feb/11/alexander-mcqueen-dies

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/feb/11/alexander-mcqueen-career-profile

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gallery/2010/feb/11/alexander-mcqueen-life-pictures

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/fashion/12mcqueen.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

fashion designer > Vivienne Westwood

 

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/vivienne-westwood

 

 

 

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gallery/2013/nov/30/vivienne-westwood-sexpistols

http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2013/01/07/
vivienne-westwood-book-by-terry-jones-i-d-s-greatest-hits-photos.html

 

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/
nov/15/fashion 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2007/may/12/
shopping.fashion1 

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2007/may/12/
fashion.features4

 

 

 

 

designer look        UK

http://www.guardian.co.uk/fashion/gallery/2012/may/28/key-trends-coloured-dresses

 

 

 

 

fashion house

 

 

 

 

collection        UK

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/feb/15/
new-york-fashion-week-marc-jacobs
 

 

 

 

 

couturier        USA

http://www.npr.org/2014/05/08/
310410541/the-art-of-a-lost-american-couturier-on-display-at-the-met

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

corpus of news articles

 

Arts > Fashion, clothing > Fashion designers

 

 

 

Asian-Americans

Climb the Fashion Industry Ladder

 

September 4, 2010
The New York Times
By ERIC WILSON

 

The mood was set early at the American fashion awards ceremony at Lincoln Center in June, an event often likened to the Oscars of the fashion world, with a guest list that included celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker and Gwyneth Paltrow and almost every top designer.

In quick succession, three men were called to the stage to accept their awards as the best new designers of the year: Richard Chai for men’s wear, Jason Wu for women’s wear and Alexander Wang for accessories.

It was the first time that all three prizes given by the Council of Fashion Designers of America were awarded to designers who are Asian-American. That same night, the fashion council announced three scholarships, each for $25,000, won by student designers of Asian heritage.

“It’s so exciting,” said Mr. Wu, who became a household name not only in this country, but also in his native Taiwan, when his dress was selected by Michelle Obama for her husband’s inauguration. “Not too long ago, Donna Karan and Michael Kors were the young designers of America. Now there are a lot of firsts for all of us as Asian-American designers.”

Their ascent to the top tier of New York fashion represents an important demographic shift on Seventh Avenue. At the Fashion Week that begins here on Thursday, many of the most promising new designers are of Asian descent, a group that includes Mr. Wang and Mr. Wu; Thakoon Panichgul, one of the stars of the documentary “The September Issue,” about Vogue magazine; Prabal Gurung; Phillip Lim; and Derek Lam — names that are increasingly likely to represent the future of fashion.

Major design schools around the world have seen an influx of Asian-American and Asian-born students since the 1990s, partly through their own recruitment efforts in countries with rapidly developing fashion industries, like South Korea and Japan, and partly because of changing attitudes in those countries about fashion careers. At Parsons the New School for Design, roughly 70 percent of its international students enrolled in the school of fashion now come from Asia, according to school officials. At the Fashion Institute of Technology, 23 percent of the nearly 1,200 students now enrolled are either Asian or Asian-American.

“F.I.T. is a pretty diverse place, but this is the most obvious change we have seen,” said Joanne Arbuckle, the dean of its school of art and design. “It is remarkable when you compare it to many years ago. I don’t think we ever had these numbers of students from Asian countries or Asian-American students. And it is a growing population.”

The rise of Asian designers in America has actually come in several smaller waves, including one that marked the emergence of Anna Sui and Vera Wang in the 1980s. In the last few years, however, as a new generation of designers has asserted itself in New York, Asian-Americans have been at the forefront. In 1995, there were only about 10 Asian-American members of the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Today there are at least 35.

This has happened largely for the same reason that the New York fashion industry, through the ’80s, was populated most visibly by designers of Jewish heritage, like Calvin Klein, Ms. Karan, Ralph Lauren, Marc Jacobs and Mr. Kors. Throughout the 20th century, generations of Jewish immigrants had created a thriving garment district in New York, first as laborers, then as factory owners, manufacturers, retailers and, eventually, as designers. Many of today’s Asian-American designers say they experienced a similar evolution from the factory to the catwalk, since some of their parents and grandparents were once involved in the production of clothes.

Mr. Lam, whose luxury ready-to-wear collections evoke a classically uptown ideal, is a designer of Chinese descent who came to New York by way of San Francisco. His grandparents owned a factory there producing bridal gowns. His father imported clothing from Hong Kong, but Mr. Lam said he wanted to pursue a more creative course and enrolled in Parsons, graduating in 1990. Before starting his label in 2002, he worked for Mr. Kors in New York.

“I grew up around clothes,” Mr. Lam said. “It was like a default. Fashion became one of the few outlets for Asian-Americans who wanted to put their name out there.”

When he went out on his own, Mr. Lam, though well received, faced a difficult road. No one bought his first collection, and he and his business partner had invested their savings in the business.

But after several seasons, the collection took off. He has since won several awards, including the accessories prize from the fashion council in 2007; opened two stores Manhattan; and developed a clothing and accessories line for the luxury brand Tod’s. During a recent trip to Shanghai and Beijing, he said, he was stunned by the level of awareness of his work there.

“There is this understanding that there is a group of Asian-American designers who are coming up in the world, and there is a sense of pride,” Mr. Lam said.

The cultural changes that have enabled would-be designers to pursue their chosen careers have happened slowly. Ms. Sui told The International Herald Tribune in 2008 that designers of her generation were often asked by their families, “Why do you want to be a dressmaker when you could be a doctor?”

Mr. Wu said those pressures were still there as recently as a decade ago. “When I was applying to Parsons, my mother had never heard of it,” he said. “Now, everyone in the generation after me wants to go to Parsons. Fashion has become a more prominent career in the eyes of Asian parents.”

Unlike the avant-garde work of Yohji Yamamoto, Rei Kawakubo and Issey Miyake — Japanese designers who took Paris by storm in the 1980s — there is no discernible aesthetic connection among the designs of Asian-Americans. Alexander Wang’s street style looks nothing like Mr. Lam’s polished dresses, nor the colorful mash-up prints of Peter Som, who also consults on sportswear for Tommy Hilfiger. None would care to identify their styles as “Asian-American.” Carmen Chen Wu, a Parsons student who received one of the fashion scholarships this year, noted that she is of Chinese descent, but was born in Spain, “so technically, I’m a Spaniard.”

But one thing their heightened visibility has done for them as a group is to create opportunities in Asia, where the realm of luxury fashion had long been exclusive to traditional European houses like Louis Vuitton and Chanel.

Since his triumph with Mrs. Obama, Mr. Wu has been invited to return to Taiwan in October to help design a residential building, and he is developing a line of eye shadows with Shiseido that will be sold throughout China. Mr. Som said his business was growing faster in Asia than anywhere else, noting that the speed of information today has made consumers in South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand as knowledgeable about new designers as they are about the historically major brands. Mr. Lam said he had been invited to return to China next month to appear as a judge on “Creative Sky,” a popular new reality television competition.

On that show, aspiring fashion designers compete in a series of runway challenges, much like those on “Project Runway” in the United States. The major difference is that the ultimate prize is not the chance to show a collection at Fashion Week, but something that is now becoming far more prestigious in Asia.

The winner gets the opportunity to go to Parsons — as a student.

Asian-Americans Climb the Fashion Industry Ladder,
NYT,
4.9.2010,
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/fashion/05asians.html

 

 

 

 

 

Ralph Lauren

Marks 40 Years in Fashion

 

September 9, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 12:36 a.m. ET
The New York Times

 

NEW YORK (AP) -- Ralph Lauren took a well-deserved extended bow Saturday night as he both presented and celebrated his 40th anniversary collection.

Lauren sauntered down the runway at a tent erected just outside the Conservatory Gardens in Manhattan's Central Park to Frank Sinatra's ''The Best Is Yet To Come.'' A crowd that included Sarah Jessica Parker, Martha Stewart, Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters gave the designer a standing ovation. Fellow top-tier designers Donna Karan, Carolina Herrera, Diane von Furstenberg and Vera Wang, who once worked for Lauren, also were at the black-tie event.

The theme of the spring collection, debuting during New York Fashion Week, was a day at the races. Some models wore oversized hats with garden-party dresses -- one of the best being a pale-blue floral printed silk plisse gown with a halter neckline and ruffled jabot -- while others wore menswear-style jackets, ascots and tailored trousers. Spatlike shoes completed the look.

The jockeys were even represented with crystal-embellished jodhpurs, a yellow jersey dress with an equestrian print, and a bright pink equestrian-print taffeta jacket with splashes of blue, white, green and yellow, and a peplum at the hip.

Spring '08 features more colors than Lauren has shown in years.

The clothes, however, were secondary to recognizing Lauren's long tenure at the top of an industry always looking for the next big thing.

Lauren is one of the ''nicest, warmest and loveliest'' in the fashion world, said von Furstenberg, president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

''He is so successful because he lives his fantasy with such passion. I just love him,'' she said.

After the last gown -- a slinky and stunning silver chain-beaded gown -- disappeared from the runway and Lauren had his moment in the spotlight, the back wall opened to reveal an elegant and elaborate party set up in the Conservatory Garden itself. This was the first private event ever held at the Gardens by a third party.

A sprawling fountain in the middle picked up the light from the dozen chandeliers hanging from arched arborways on the terrace and from the hundreds of candles on the tables.

''Like a Henry James character, he (Lauren) is the last true idealist about America's imagination of itself,'' said Harold Koda, curator at the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. ''That makes him the greatest ambassador of American style.''

    Ralph Lauren Marks 40 Years in Fashion, NYT, 9.9.2007,
    http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/
    AP-Fashion-Week-Ralph-Lauren.html

 

 

 

 

 

Beauty in the Details

at Fashion Week

 

September 8, 2007
Filed at 4:13 p.m. ET
The New York Times
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

NEW YORK (AP) -- Inside the sprawling tents at New York Fashion Week on Saturday, beauty was found in the smallest details.

Old-fashioned dressmaking touches, such as pintucks and pleats, showed up in multiple collections. Macy's fashion director Nicole Fischelis said she thought customers would appreciate the details in the Max Azria collection, such as the pintucks on the front of a pretty sheath dress or the ruffles added to a blazer at the hip.

Catherine Malandrino displayed a knack for artistry -- and drama -- with a neckline decorated with fabric beads that looked like jasmine buds. At J. Mendel, presented Friday, designer Gilles Mendel is known to hand-pleat gowns himself.

Later Saturday night comes one of the anticipated highlights of the week, a black-tie dinner celebrating Ralph Lauren's 40 years in fashion.

New York Fashion Week lasts eight days, previewing the spring-summer looks of 60 designers for fashion editors, retail buyers and stylists.

 

CATHERINE MALANDRINO

Catherine Malandrino's spring collection offered a garden's variety of looks, all rooted in the colors of tangerine, olive and geranium that the designer said evoke the peacefulness she associates with a small town in the south of France.

A white blouse with a neckline decorated with fabric beads that looked like jasmine buds paired with an organza skirt with scalloped tiers showed her mastery of handicraft, and a green gown with a neckline adorned with beads mimicking lemons, limes and grapes showed her sense of humor.

But she might have crossed the line into too avant garde to be wearable with overwrought balloon sleeves on jackets that she paired with slim pencil skirts. No one would want to sit next to someone wearing them, especially at these crowded fashion shows.

 

LACOSTE

Marking the 75th anniversary of the Lacoste label, creative director Christophe Lemaire looked back at the crocodile's life and created a path for its future in the spring collection.

The brand has its roots in country club sports such as golf and tennis, and Lemaire found new inspiration in the spirit of Basque region of southwestern France, home to the golf club Chantaco.

The white outfits that opened the show -- a white blazer with a white ribbon edge and ankle-length trim white pants on the man, and a white blazer paired with a crisp A-line skirt on the woman -- surely would have fit the Chantaco dress code then and now.

Lacoste also offered high-waisted gingham shorts and super-short tennis dresses for women and colorful flat-front pants rolled into a tapered shape above the ankle for men.

The best visual from the show was the finale: a rainbow of brightly colored polos, tennis shorts, bathing suits and cover-ups, representing the core of what Lacoste is always likely to be.

 

CYNTHIA ROWLEY

Cynthia Rowley's fashion show is always a trip. This time around, she sent the models down the runway on bicycles -- high heels and all.

Rowley is known to add a little kitsch to her collections -- biking and summer sports seemed to be on her mind on Friday. There was a tennis frock and a crew-team sweater.

Long T-shirt dresses were among the standout items. ''Ringlet'' dresses with loops of fabric as the embellishment didn't fare so well.

When the looks turned dressier, Rowley turned a chain-link print -- surely inspired by a bicycle chain -- into a surprisingly serviceable canvas for cocktail dresses.

Even the pantsuits were looser and more relaxed, and models wore them with rolled legs so they could hop on the bike just like a green-minded commuter.

The jewelry featured in the show all came from eBay, another nod to ''recycling.''

Many of the items were retro painted enamel, and will be donated to 7th on Sale, the fashion industry's fundraising initiative for HIV and AIDS organizations. They'll go on sale Nov. 15 at www.7thonSale.eBay.com.

 

MAX AZRIA

A woman's lingerie is not supposed to be seen by the outside world. Apparently, Max Azria thinks that's a waste of often feminine, delicate garments.

Azria turned a slew of lingerie looks into springtime outfits for his runway show held Friday, with an emphasis on dainty slip dresses and silky charmeuse fabric. In the audience were Nicole Richie, Molly Sims and Carrie Underwood.

Azria and his wife Lubov, who co-designs this more upscale collection than their BCBG line, also favored the subtle earth-tone palette, with grays, taupes, creams and blacks, adding blush and rose as accents.

There were a few outfits, though, that risked looking a little too much like loungewear to be worn outside. Hammered satin blouses and cropped pants with camisoles underneath come to mind.

    Beauty in the Details at Fashion Week, NYT, 8.9.2007,
    http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/AP-Fashion-Week-Day-4.html

 

 

 

 

 

Real fur: Dressed to kill

Revealed: UK fur imports at record levels,
'IoS' investigation shows
Top designers and celebrities
defy the anti-cruelty lobby

 

Published: 26 November 2006
The Independent on Sunday
By Jonathan Owen and Marie Woolf

 

Record numbers of Britons are buying real fur, overturning decades of campaigning by activists who say substitutes should be worn instead.

Sales of fur clothing have hit £500m for the first time, up 30 per cent on two years ago, with £40m of new fur products being imported every year.

To the fury of the anti-cruelty lobby, the championing of real fur by supermodels and top designers is sending sales soaring, with, say protesters, young animals being clubbed and shot by hunters as a result.

The fashion designer Stella McCartney last night told The Independent on Sunday: "The continuing use of fur is a real problem in the fashion industry, and there is an issue with people assuming that fur trim is fake when most of it is real."

More than a decade after top models posed in placards with "I'd rather go naked than wear fur", new figures show that sales of fur have risen by 30 per cent in the past two years.

Figures compiled for the IoS by HM Customs and Revenue show that almost one million tons of fur are being imported each year - and that the global market for fur has hit almost £7bn.

Fendi, the luxury retailer, has led the move to "rebrand" fur, selling products using dyed and shaved fur to make it look more appealing. Other top stores have followed suit, with designers such as Julien Macdonald, Jean-Paul Gaultier, John Galliano and Alexander McQueen staging shows with models in real fur.

The British Fur Traders Association said that sales of fur have risen by a third in two years, while Hockley, a London furrier, is reporting a 45 per cent rise in business. Concern over the comeback of fur in the UK is so great that the RSPCA is preparing to mount a major new anti-fur campaign early next year.

The World Society for the Protection of Animals blamed the fashion industry for fuelling the rise, saying catwalk shows were making fur seem acceptable to the public. "Fur-bearing animals are forced to endure life in cruel cages and are... slammed against concrete floors and skinned alive," said a spokesman for the charity.

Such is the scale of alarm at the rise in fur use that the Government is moving to ban all imports of harp and hooded seal products into the UK.

This has been prompted by a sharp increase in the past year in the amount of seal skins imported into Britain. Official Customs figures show that the amount of seal pelt imports rose from 3.6 tons in 2004 to 4.1 tons last year. In 2004, the UK imported almost a third of the value of all Canadian seal skins into the EU. Protests continue over the Canadian seal hunt, where hundreds of thousands of animals are clubbed or shot each year. Campaigners claim that some seals are still alive when they are skinned.

    Real fur: Dressed to kill, IoS, 26.11.2006,
    http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article2016135.ece

 

 

 

 

 

The fur trade: Bloody fashion

We are buying more fur than ever.
Seal skin is now so popular
that the Government is to ban imports.


The suffering this trade causes to animals
is as great as ever.


So why can't we do without it?


Jonathan Owen reports

 

Published: 26 November 2006

The Independent on Sunday

 

When five of the world's biggest supermodels posed with an "I'd rather go naked than wear fur" placard in 1994, it was the high point of the anti-fur campaign. Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, Claudia Schiffer and Elle Macpherson had achieved celebrity status, and their influence had others queuing up to join the anti-fur protests. The act of wearing fur became a social crime and those deemed guilty risked being abused by strangers in the street.

How things have changed. Naomi, Cindy, Elle and Claudia have returned to promoting fur, with just Christy remaining true to her word. Fashion is notoriously fickle and the famous slogan "It takes 40 dumb animals to make a fur coat... but only one to wear it" is being disregarded by many designers and models. Britain's fur industry, almost driven out of existence in the 1990s, is back - and thriving. It has been quietly restyling fur to appeal to a new generation of customers.

An investigation by The Independent on Sunday has revealed that more than a thousand tons of fur worth £41m came into Britain last year. The British Fur Trade Association claims that retail sales of fur have risen by a third in two years. In London, one furrier, Hockley, is reporting a 45 per cent increase in business. Global sales of fur reached a record £6.6bn in 2005, according to the International Fur Trade Federation.

Concern over the comeback is so great that the RSPCA is to mount a major new anti-fur campaign early next year aimed atfashion-conscious 15- to 30-year-olds. An RSPCA spokesman said, "There are concerns that people may be starting to buy fur in ignorance. Although full mink coats may be still ethically out of bounds, the fur industry is going for trim and trinkets. Most consumers often don't know what they are buying, and would be horrified if they realised the suffering involved."

Stella McCartney, in an interview with this newspaper, said, "There's nothing fashionable about a dead animal that has been cruelly killed just because some people think it looks cool to wear. The continuing use of fur is still a real problem in the fashion industry and there is an issue with people out there assuming that fur trim is fake when most of it is real."

More than 50 million animals will be killed for their fur this year, most of which will have spent their short lives in miserable conditions on fur farms before they are killed, sometimes being skinned while still alive.

The World Society for the Protection of Animals has joined the calls for action. Major General Peter Davies, the charity's director general, is calling for a boycott of fur, blaming the fashion industry for fuelling a rise in sales "by flaunting it all over the catwalk".

Yet the "fur fatwa" of the past is no more. High profile designers such as Jean Paul Gaultier, Prada, and Roberto Cavalli regularly celebrate fur in their catwalk shows and defy the attentions of animal rights activists. A generation has grown up without being exposed to the mass-media shock advertising campaigns that helped launch the anti-fur movement in the Eighties.

Campaigners are concerned that people need to be constantly reminded of the cruelty involved in fur. But issues like climate change and global poverty have taken centre stage.

"I think there has been a fall-off in consciousness and fur has crept back insidiously," said the style commentator Peter York. "Fur trim is just a texture; it is not a pelt or mass of pelts, and simply does not look like fur."

Mink and fox are being joined by an array of other animals. One of the most notorious is karakul lambskin, worn by stars such as Keira Knightley, which is made from the pelt of new-born lambs that are killed days after birth or even taken from the womb. Growing numbers of seal skins are also being imported and the Government is so concerned that it is to back a ban on the import of all sealskin products. This comes just a week after the European Union announced a ban on dog and cat fur from China, one of the world's biggest fur exporters.

Undercover animal investigator Peter Joseph (his details have been changed) has visited several mink and fox fur farms in Norway in recent months. He describes what he found at one mink farm.

"People think of these places as farms, but they are really more like animal warehouses, where the animals are there for one reason only - to be killed for their coats.

"In one dimly-lit cage in a corner of the shed was a large mink. I couldn't help wondering how people who buy fur would react if they could have seen what I did. This particular animal could barely move. It seemed to have resigned itself to its fate and just lay there - its eyes swollen from the ammonia fumes from its urine and faeces and an open wound on its head."

A spokeswoman from the International Fur Trade Federation claims that the popularity of fur is increasing due to people making up their own minds about the issue and "reappraising natural, sustainable materials with modern techniques".

But Mr Joseph is trying to forget his experience of a fur farm. "If I close my eyes I can still see them there. Walking away from the farm was one of the hardest things I have ever done."

Additional reporting by Marie Woolf and Sonia Elks

Nicole Richie and the rabbit fur jacket

WHERE AND WHEN: Book signing in New York, 2005

WEARING: Grey rabbit fur jacket

COST: Estimated £1,000

CRUELTY FACTOR: Rabbits are farmed in terrible conditions. A large proportion are bred and killed purely for the fur and the RSPCA says that people should not assume that rabbit fur is automatically a by-product of meat. In the wild, rabbits are roaming social animals that live in burrows. In a cage on a fur farm they are denied this freedom and are usually killed by having their necks broken. The use of rabbit fur in costume is first recorded in 13th-century literature.

Dita Von Teese wears mink

WHERE AND WHEN: Rodeo Drive Walk of Style Awards, Beverly Hills, March 2006

WEARING: Mink cloak

COST: Anything up to £8,000

CRUELTY FACTOR: About 85 per cent of all mink are farmed, something that is incredibly stressful for these wild animals. They live for just six or seven months before being killed; common methods include gassing, electrocution or beating them to death. They are perhaps best known for their dark brown fur, which turns white at the chin and runs to black at the tips of their tails. It takes 60 to 80 minks to make a fur coat. Young tend to be born in May. They are dead by December.

Kate Moss's seal boots

WHERE AND WHEN: Leaving a London restaurant in March 2004

WEARING: Mukluk boots

COST: About £200

CRUELTY FACTOR: Mukluks are a soft boot made of reindeer skin or sealskin and worn by Inuit. The sealskin is taken from seals that are clubbed to death at two weeks old.

Sophie Dahl chooses mink and white fox

WHERE AND WHEN: Fragrance Foundation Awards, New York, April 2005

WEARING: White mink coat, fox fur collar

COST: Estimated £7,000

CRUELTY FACTOR: Millions of mink and fox endure terrible conditions in fur farms, where they live their short lives in cages so small that they can barely turn around. White foxes that are caught from the wild in steel-jaw traps are in so much pain that some bite off their limbs in order to escape. Many die horrible deaths before the trapper arrives to kill them. Those on farms are gassed or killed by electrocution: electrodes are clamped in the mouth and the rectum.

Keira Knightley opts for karakul lambskin

WHERE AND WHEN: British Independent Film Awards in London, 2005

WEARING: Black karakul lambskin coat

COST: Between £3,000 and £6,000

CRUELTY FACTOR: One of the cruellest forms of fur, according to animal welfarists. Undercover investigations have documented how heavily pregnant ewes are killed and their unborn lambs removed for their coats. Newborn lambs are routinely killed after a few days, before their velvet-smooth coats have had a chance to uncurl. The fur is also called Persian lamb, astrakhan and broadtail. It is also used to make high-end hats, carpets and rugs.

The fur trade: Bloody fashion,
IoS,
26.11.2006,
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article2016136.ece

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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