Fur all the fashion rage once again

Just over a decade ago, five of the world's highest paid supermodels posed naked across a defiant banner reading 'We'd rather go naked than wear fur'.

Their protest campaign defined the age in which fur was increasingly seen as a cruel and outmoded fashion statement. But 11 years later, it appears fur could once again be all the rage.

Furriers have reported a massive surge in sales in the past year, with fur reappearing on the Milan and Paris runways.

This year's 'winter look' is dominated by the presence of fur trims and mink and The British Fur Trade Association claim that a growing number of women are seduced by the allure of the luxury fabric, with sales having risen by a third in the past year.

There has been a reported upsurge of fur sales in Europe and this year's Copenhagen Fur Auction shows that its commodity price is up by 15 per cent, and the International Fur Trade Federation say that global sales have rocketed from US$9.1bn in 2000 to US$11.7bn last year.

A BTFA spokesman said the fur renaissance was partly down to the public's changing attitude to the industry but also the rapidity with which fashion houses are turning to fur.

"Designers are using fur and we now have nearly 400 top designers who use it. The fact that fur is versatile has increased its popularity. Gone are the days when fur is associated with only heavy coats. These days, it can be seared, plucked, knitted and used as trim," said the spokesman.

Its versatility has led to a younger generation of fur enthusiasts, he claimed, with a growing band of celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce Knowles and Elizabeth Hurley elevated its 'cool' status.

But animal rights groups deny there is a revival in the fur trade, and insist that for every celebrity who endorses fur, there are a dozen who make a public protest against it.

Last week, Heather Mills McCartney stormed Jennifer Lopez' fashion house headquarters to protest against its use of the fur. McCartney and a group of fur protestors wore a 'body video' showing horrific images of animals being skinned alive for pelts as they demonstrated against Lopez' Sweetface label.

She bemoaned the "return of fur" in the fashion industry and claimed a lot of the purported luxury fur products were made from cat and dog hair, mislabelled as fox, mink or sable and dyed to order.

Sean Gifford, director of European Campaigns for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said the fur trade had resorted to desperate measures in an attempt to bolster its popularity, often sending fur items to celebrities for free as well as the sponsoring runway shows for major designer labels including Versace.

"There is a handful of celebrities who continue to wear real fur but they are by far the minority. There are no official, retail figures for fur, the government does not keep track of the retail price of fur, so we don't know about sales. The fur trade is trying to sell a product and they are painting a rosy picture on a dying product that they are desperate to resuscitate," he said.

He added that it had become increasingly difficult to buy real fur on the high street, with major stores including Harvey Nichols, Marks and Spencer, Mango, Morgan, Monsoon, Liberty and most recently Selfridges, joining the list of shops that have banned fur from their racks.

But furriers maintain there has been a shift in opinion among the younger generation who have turned back to the luxury material.

Frank Zilberkweit, owner of Hockley, London's largest furrier, said he had a young hip crowd frequenting his store who often bought items for a couple of hundred pounds, to the older, wealthier clients who were happy to spend up to £20,00 on an expensive coat.

"My own daughter wanted to have something made of fur for university. It's OK to be wearing it now. They don't have a problem at all with it," he said.

- INDEPENDENT