New fur, vintage fur, faux fur and fake news again.

While surfing the internet, we found an interesting quote from miss Fiona Mc Intosh, former editor of ELLE UK and founder of Blow LTD which says.

“In so many ways it ( fur) ticks the 'politically correct' box. It is a 100 per cent sustainable, renewable and biodegradable piece of clothing that can be mended, reconditioned and recycled to three generations — possibly even a fourth when I offer it to my daughters”

This quote was translated in french and posted on the facebook page of the french section of the fur industry.

The quote of former editor from ELLE UK and Grazia Fiona Mac Intosh has been modified.

we need a sustainable conversation

While the very substance of this claim is far from the truth, (we elaborate on that later), it was a big surprise when searching for the source, to realize that Fiona Mc Intosh was actually talking about a vintage fur coat passed down to her from her grand mother. The fur industry simply omitted to indicate this important detail and even modified the gramatical construction of the quote, in order to make her statement way different than what she intended to say.

Here is the real quote with the omissions and modifications in capital letters.

In so many ways it ticks the 'politically correct' box. It is a 100 per cent sustainable, renewable and biodegradable piece of VINTAGE clothing that HAS BEEN mended, reconditioned and recycled through three generations — possibly even a fourth when I offer it to my daughters

Fiona Mc Intosh elaborates in the same article :

I would draw the line at ever buying and wearing a new fur coat. It would feel wrong and look wrong. Besides, extravagant, exotic furs have a whiff of the Russian escort about them, and that is certainly not the look I'm going for. But my old rabbit coat is not new, nor made from an exotic or endangered animal.

While Fiona Mc Intosh certainly feels good in her vintage fur coat, she seems not so keen in supporting the production of new fur coats. This leads to the not so unexpected conclusion that the fur industry, as ususal, is ready to manipulate facts as an attempt to save the day (read also here for more manipulations).

Supporting vintage fur is not supporting fur

We can understand and respect the idea lying behind vintage fur : the material or the garments already exist. It’s here. We can comprehend the concept for a market of vintage furs as long as all current fur factory farms would close. A big amount of pelts have been produced already. Fur being produced en masse with an average of 75 to 150 millions furs every year in the last 10 years, we can only imagine the stock of pelts for the vintage market is huge and could create a global viable market without the need to produce new furs. Vintage fur is ecofriendly as long as all fur farms close so it is clear the vintage market is not parasitised by new furs.

Regarding the negative perception of faux fur emanating form Fiona Mc Intosh’s claim this is not surprising as today, it is difficult to find an article that does not spread negative misconceptions about faux fur, forgetting all the positive apsects inherent to faux fur.

Fact : Polyester is greener than animal based fibers such as leather.

Surprisingly, you won’t find half of the quarter of the negative publicity about leather, cotton or cashmere, all having a much worse – documented, impact on the environment than faux fur.

We are saying to Fiona Mc Intosh and everybody in the fashion industry : do not be fooled by the manipulative speech of the fur industry : polyester has less impact on the environment than animal-based fibers. Animal furs last 3 decades because they have been processed with petro chemicals. Polyester is recyclable while the biodegradability of fur has been reported baseless and not sufficiently supported by the French Advertising Authority of Paris last december ; indeed animal fur is only partially biodegradable. It is not compostable and is certainly not earth-friendly. Fox dyed with chemical colors can only biodegrade to 6%…

Collection system for those willing to have their old mink coats biodegraded are nonexistent. In other words the biodegradability claims of the fur industry are good for the marketing but of no use for our planet.

If someone wants to wear a vintage fur coat, fine. But don’t feel pressured to spread defamatory messages against a beautiful, dynamic, life-friendly sector commited to improving the synthetic materials with a push for new recycling systems and bio-based faux fur.