Fur Sales on the Rise
Fashion consultant Tim Gunn, who wants a fur-free runway, with Olivia Munn and Teraji P. Henson
Despite the efforts of many in the fashion industry to get fur off the runway and off of human shoulders, sales of fur coats and accessories are actually on the increase.
New York City’s Fashion Week, last week, saw pro- and anti-fur designers squaring off against each other.
Project Runway’s Tim Gunn, for example, backed a new bid to ban the use of animal pelts from Fashion Week.
“I’m on a campaign to get as many fashion designers as possible to stop using it. I’d just like to sit with them and have a talk and ask: Is it really necessary?” Gunn told the New York Post.
But designer Donna Karan (left) and Vogue editor Anna Wintour (right) still endorse fur and wear animal pelts themselves.
Part of the rush to buy more fur right now is that prices are rising and are expected to soar later in the year. The average price of mink pelts has climbed as high as 20 percent in the past two months, and pelts that are considered high-quality have risen as much as 50 percent.
One reason for that lies in the rapidly-growing Chinese market for fur. The new middle- and upper-economic strata of Chinese society now account for more than 70 percent of global fur sales.
In some parts of the world, however, fur sales are declining. Norway, the home of the Nobel Peace Prize, had made fashion week ethical by banning fur from the catwalk at Oslo Fashion Week. It was a first for any city hosting a global fashion week.