SAFEGUARDING THE QUALITY OF thE DEBATE

In order to safeguard the quality of the discussion surrounding the sustainability of faux fur we would like to address some of the most commonly spread misconceptions and exaggerations about this subject.

There is a campaign of ‘fake news’ circulated by the pro fur lobby which seeks to cause confusion in the fashion industry and gives a skewed perspective of this important debate.


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MICROFIBRES

When faux fur is washed tiny particles are released into the water. Is this true?

Faux fur coats are rarely washed and not usually in the machine. It is a false comparison to look at the impact of machine-washing an item of faux fur, washed once a year at low temperature, with that of an everyday garment washed every week. They are clearly not the same.

‘Fashion At The Crossroads’ a report by Greenpeace highlights this perfectly.

Faux fur is consistent with the ‘wash less’ trend. If a faux fur item needs to be washed simply use lukewarm water or sponge clean so that the release of microfibres is practically non-existent. If you do decide to machine wash you can also add a Guppyfriend filter bag to your washing machine.

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LANDFILLS

Is it true that faux fur sits in landfills for hundreds of years ?

This is undocumented and is most certainly an over simplification of a global issue that should be taken seriously.

The disposal of waste is not a problem inherent to faux fur alone. The culture of fast fashion includes many types of manmade fabrics and cheap clothing, which may potentially be discarded. It is not unusual to find items of real fur being thrown away such as cheap key rings or decorative pom poms for hats made from raccoon, rabbit or cat fur, whereas a £5000 Gucci coat made from faux fur will not end its life in landfill.

Global issues need global solutions.

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NATURAL

Fur is natural unlike faux fur right ?

Fur might be considered to be a natural product if you ignore the long processing chain needed to produce a fur coat. From carbon intensive factory farming to energy intensive pelting plants to the final dressing process, the whole industry is far from natural.

The factory farming stage is perhaps the most unnatural part of the process involving battery cages and instances of animal cruelty. Animals are removed from their natural habitat or bred in captivity – a situation far removed from any sort of natural habitat. They are removed from their own natural traits rooted in their DNA.

After the farming process, pelts are tanned, preserved and dyed with petrochemiclas manufactured by the petrochemical industry. Huge amounts of these products are bought every year by the fur industry to preserve millions of furs.


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EARTH

Doesn’t faux fur take more than 1 000 years to decompose ?

This claim is pure speculation based on the fact that a plastic bottle may take 500 years to break down. A luxurious fur coat is not supposed to be thrown into landfill. In the world of fashion it is always better to give new life to a garment and faux fur is no exception as it can be re-shaped and re-designed and made into entirely new items – for example an old faux fur coat can be upcycled and used to make super cool upholstered stools! Polyester faux fur can also be recycled as it is 100% recyclable. On the same note synthetic waste is now eligible for biogreen technology, a smart way to transform synthetics into a new source of energy such as industrial gaz or bio-fuel.

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BIODEGRADATION

Animal fur is biodegradable which makes it more eco-friendly

Back to reality : animal fur coats are not compostable. They are not earth-friendly because they are loaded with various chemicals. In addition to that, consumers do not compost their mink coats! This claim is a marketing trick. The only study available to support the claim actually shows that fur is only partially biodegradable. When the fur used in the experiment was dyed, the degradability rate fell to only 6%, an unimpressive piece of data that should not have led to a global marketing campaign, unless, of course, the aim was to mislead consumers.

In Paris in 2018 biodegradability claims made by the fur lobby and published in Vogue were ruled to be misleading and baseless.

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CIRCULARITY

Is the fur industry circular ? what about faux fur ?

The goal of circularity in fashion is to reduce or to limit the creation of new, or so-called virgin resources and to re-use materials at the end of their initial use phase by re-injecting them into the loop. Logically this makes the use of virgin resources unnecessary. This cycle is certainly not evident in the fur trade whose core activity is to maintain the production of millions of animals in the context of intensive factory farming.

By contrast, the use of polyester has the potential to become a closed loop system thanks to improved recycling methods and the progress made in bio-fabrication.

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FISHES

Does faux fur kill fishes ?

This is one of the latest assertions spread by the fur lobby, but one that is not documented by any reliable source. A simple checking of the facts will inform you that much of the debris found in oceans comes from abandoned fishing nets (46% to 72%) the rest being mainly single use plastics like bottles or plastic bags. You won’t find faux fur coats in the sea, of course, but you will find huge amounts of single use plastic.

According to studies single use plastic is said to kill 1.5 million animals per year and 100 000 sea birds. The problem is huge and urgent action should be taken to address the issue. Supporting recycling is an important part of the solution.

The fur trade kills millions of animals each year so their selective empathy for marine life should be questioned rigorously.


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PERFECTION

“But faux fur is far from perfect !”

This is the rather weird logic we’ve been hearing for a long time. Simply because faux fur is proudly animal-friendly this seems to imply some sort of inherent perfection.

According to what criteria should faux fur be better than perfect? Like all materials used by the fashion sector faux fur undeniably has an impact on the environment and also huge potential for improvement in the field of eco-friendly practices.

Please see our ‘smart fur’ section to read more about our sustainability initiatives conducted with Ecopel faux fur.