In the world of fashion, the headlines keep on coming about a confused Gucci following the announcement that it would be dropping fur in the name of “sustainability”. Truth About Fur tries to explain how Gucci could so misunderstand the meaning of “sustainability”, while Fur Europe has produced a graphic explanation of the sustainability of “Circular Fashion” that hopefully Gucci can comprehend.
Meanwhile, Vogue (UK) magazine ran a doting one-sided interview with confused Gucci’s new handler, the Humane Society of the US. The big question now is whether Vogue and Gucci understand HSUS’s true agenda, which is not animal welfare but animal rights. One man, Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri, must know what’s going on since he used to work for vegan designer (and killer of silkworms) Stella McCartney.
Can we now look forward to Bizzarri, cheered on by HSUS, phasing out leather, shearling, and python farmed by Gucci’s parent company, Kering, in Thailand?
Protest Season
November is the time of year when anti-fur protesters kick into high gear, but with the concerns of historical protests (sustainability and animal welfare) having been addressed (at least in the view of the fur trade), Truth About Fur asks whether the current crop are now rebels without a cause.
Meanwhile Stella McCartney’s dad, Beatle and animal rightist Paul, turns out to be a Canada Goose fan. Perhaps he didn’t get the memo about the stink activists are kicking up outside Canada Goose’s new London store, for using coyote trim on its parkas stuffed with goose down. Campaigners have also been targeting Canada Goose’s New York store, among them one Jabari Brisport. Who? Brisport is running for office on New York’s City Council, and, if elected, will fight to ban fur sales in the city.
Another pop star who doesn’t seem confused at all is Pretenders vocalist Chrissie Hynde. The committed vegetarian calls the modern-day animal rights movement “tyrannical”, adding: “It’s almost on the verge of polarising people rather than mobilising them, because people have this almost messiah or jihad complex: if you don’t do it the way we want you to, we’ll kill you.”
Pest Control
Louisiana is known for its invasive nutria, and now the “swamp rats” will star in an upcoming documentary, Rodents of Unusual Size. “Stopping the nutrias is mission: impossible,” says one trapper. “The good Lord couldn’t get rid of ’em.” (Well, perhaps not impossible. They were successfully eradicated in the UK.)
Toronto, meanwhile, has two pests to deal with. It has more than enough raccoons, but now the city’s Wildlife Centre wants to make trapping illegal in the city. Meanwhile, animal rightists (the other pest) are cranking up their efforts to destroy Inuit culture. The Guardian reports that the temperature is being turned up primarily over the eating of seal meat, but animal rightists also want to end the traditional deer hunt.
Animal activist pests in the US, who released 2,000 mink from a farm in Illinois in 2013, have had their sentences upheld and their appeal not to be branded terrorists under the law rejected.
And perennial pest Pamela Anderson had another hissy fit over Naomi Campbell’s full-length fox coat, and sent Kim Kardashian a fake fur for Christmas. We’re sure Naomi and Kim don’t care what Pamela thinks of fur, but it’s easy headlines.
Last but definitely not least – and not in any way related to pests – a special mention is in order for Maryland furrier Mano Swartz, who presented a veteran with 25 years of service with a mink coat valued at $8,000. The tradition of taking care of veterans goes back to owner Richard Swartz’s great grandfather. Good job, Richard!
I feel so bad for the owner of Ku-Kum Kitchen for all the hatred he’s getting. He opened a rather unique restaurant (few restaurants focus on indigenous cuisine), and it makes sense for him to serve dishes with seal, as seal is an important meat for Inuit people in Canada. Seals are harvested humanely and these days are killed quickly, by a sudden, fatal blow to the head (typically by a bullet). That’s a more humane death than what nature tends to offer (predation, disease, starvation, etc).
Restaurants that serve pork don’t get this kind of hatred, even though many pigs endure extreme restriction of movement during their lives, and typically endure a frightening truck ride to a slaughterhouse before death. Wild seals endure none of that. There’s no rational reason for people to get upset over seal meat when so many people eat other types of meat without problem.
All this stupidity inspired me to get some seal skin boots. They’re great – they were made in Canada (not an overseas sweat shop), are practical and warm for the subarctic climate I live in, and the animal they’re made from is an abundant one that was harvested from the wild (and wasn’t from a factory farm).