Fake Fur....Do you know what you are really wearing?

Using fake fur has become a popular alternative to the real thing but are you sure you know what you are buying, is it really fake, what chemicals are used to make this fake fur that you wear?

Fur was considered a luxury item, however when videos from China were released displaying animals being skinned alive Khurana (2007) had stated it shook the public and transformed how we buy fur today. Companies and consumers had rejected real fur and wanted an alternative (Mark, 2008). But does it stop here? The use of fake fur has a combination of chemicals and hazardous substances (Khurana 2007) so therefore the question has risen if it is truly a more moral solution to the use of fur in fashion.

The use of fake furs in its primary stage was to become a cheap substitute to the real thing (Lumpton 2003). With a boom in fake furs many people were using this alternative to dress or accessorise themselves.

Fake fur is a type of textile fabric fashioned to imitate genuine animal fur. It is known as a pile fabric and is typically made from polymeric fibers that are treated, dyed, and cut to match a specific fur texture and color (McCall,1995). But the substances used to make fur over the years have progressed and some companies are using fewer chemicals (Bommanna and Lam 2012). But Khurana (2007) stress that we wear these items and it has contact with our skin.

Another controversial subject that has become a topic of discussion is the use of real fur being mislabelled as fake fur when in fact it has traces of real animal. 

A most recent case is based on Marc Jacob who is an American fashion designer and is extremely successful in the world of fashion (Branscomb, 2010). However, coats by Mark Jacob have revealed to have been made with pelts of raccoon dog although was under the impression it was fake fur (Abraham and Williams, 2013). With this statement being made public this could potentially put Jacob into negative press all around the world and increasing the awareness fur that is being sold on the high streets.  

“A five-month undercover investigation by the Humane Society of the United States found that several garments trimmed with 'faux fur' were actually made with the pelts of Chinese raccoon dog - a species related to the domestic dog - that is often skinned alive for its soft coat” (Abraham and Williams, 2013).  

Lumpton (2003) suggests that fake fur will continue to go in and out of fashion. So can we trust what we wear from high street stores? Is fake fur a better solution to the real thing?

References

Abraham, T. and Williams, O. 2013 Century 21 under fire after 'faux fur' Marc Jacobs coats are revealed to have been made with pelts of REAL raccoon dog. Daily Mail, [online] available at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2290069/Century-21-faux-fur-Marc-Jacobs-coats-revealed-pelts-REAL-raccoon-dog.html [Last accessed on the 25th April 2013)

Bommanna G, and Lam, K (2012) Global Contamination Trends of Persistent Organic Chemicalsm, United States: Taylor and Francis Group

Branscomb, L. (2010) Marc Jacobs: Profiles in Fashion Series. United States: paper publishers

Khurana, P. (2007) Introduction to Fashion Technology. New Delhi: Firewall Media

Lumpton (2003) Skin: Surface, Substance, and Design. New York: Prinston Architectural Press

Mark, J. 2008. Fur Council of Canada: Fur is Green. [Online] available at http://www.furcouncil.com/ecological.aspx (last accessed on the 19th April)

(McCall, J. (1995) Unraveling Fibers. New York Atheneum Publishers,