Fur clothing
Fur clothing is clothing made from the preserved skins of mammals. Fur is one of the oldest forms of clothing and is thought to have been widely used by people for at least 120,000 years. The term 'fur' is often used to refer to a specific item of clothing such as a coat, wrap, or shawl made from the fur of animals.
Humans wear fur garments to protect them from cold climates and wind chill, but documented evidence of fur as a marker of social status exists as far back as 2,000 years ago with ancient Egyptian royalty and high priests wearing the skins of leopards.
Historically in European and Middle Eastern cultures fur garments often had the fur facing inwards with cloth on the exterior of the jacket, but in the 19th century a trend for wearing seal fur coats with the fur facing outwards became the trend. Worldwide, both styles are popular, with fur linings offering more thermal benefits and exterior furs serving more of a fashionable purpose.
History
Fur is generally thought to have been among the first materials used for clothing. The period when fur was first used as clothing is debated. It is known that several species of hominoids including Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis used fur clothing. Clothing was made from the hides of animals such as bison, muskox, bear, ground sloth, woolly rhinoceros, mammoth or Irish elk.Fur clothing predates written history and has been recovered from various archaeological sites worldwide.
Crown proclamations known as "sumptuary legislation" were issued in England limiting the wearing of certain furs to higher social statuses, thereby establishing a cachet based on exclusivity. Furs such as leopard, snow leopard and cheetah, red squirrel, marten, and ermine were reserved for the aristocracy, while fox, hare and beaver clothed the middle, and goat, wolf and sheepskin the lower. Fur was primarily used for visible linings, with species varied by season within social classes. Populations of fur-bearing animals decreased in West Europe and began to be imported from the Middle East and Russia.
As new kinds of fur, such as jaguar and chinchilla, entered Europe, other uses were found for fur other than clothing. Beaver was most desired and used to make hats which became popular headpieces, especially during wartime. Swedish soldiers wore broad-brimmed hats made exclusively from beaver felt. Due to the limitations of beaver fur, hat-makers relied heavily on North America for imports as beaver was only available in the Scandinavian peninsula.
Other than the military, fur has been used for accessories such as hats, hoods, scarves, and muffs. Design elements including the visuals of the animal were considered acceptable with heads, tails and paws still being kept on the accessories. During the nineteenth century, Seal and karakul were made into indoor jackets.
The twentieth century saw fur being fashionable in West Europe with full fur coats. With lifestyle changes as a result of developments like indoor heating, the international textile trade affected how fur was distributed around the world. Europeans focused on using local resources giving fur association with femininity with the increasing use of mink.
The most popular kinds of fur in the 1960s were blond mink, white rabbit, yellow leopard, jaguar or cheetah, black panther, silver striped fox and red fox. Cheaper alternatives were pelts of wolf, Persian lamb or muskrat. It was common for ladies to wear a matching hat. In the 1950s, a must-have type of fur was the mutation fur and fur trimmings on a coat that were beaver, lamb fur, Astrakhan and mink.
In 1970, Germany was the world's largest fur market. In 1975, the International Fur Trade Federation banned endangered species furs like silk monkey, silky sifaka, ringtailed lemur, golden bamboo lemur, sportive lemur, dwarf lemur, ocelot, margay, cougar, snow leopard, black panther, leopard, jaguar, tiger, cheetah, quoll, numbat, chinchilla, black bear, Sun bear, Moon bear, and polar bear. The use of animal skins was brought to light during the 1980s by animal rights organizations while the demand for fur decreased. Anti-fur organizations raised awareness of animal welfare issues within the fashion industry. Fur farming was banned in Britain in 1999. During the twenty-first century, foxes and mink have been bred in captivity with Denmark, the Netherlands and Finland being leaders in mink production. Fur farming has since been banned in the Netherlands.
Fur is still worn in cooler climates around the world due to its warmth and durability. From the days of early European settlement, up until the development of modern clothing alternatives, fur clothing was popular in Canada during the cold winters. The invention of inexpensive synthetic textiles for insulating clothing led to fur clothing falling out of fashion.
Fur is still used by indigenous people and industrialized societies, due to its availability and superior insulation properties. The Inuit peoples of the Arctic relied on fur for most of their clothing, and it also forms a part of traditional clothing in Russia, Ukraine, the former Yugoslavia, Scandinavia, and Japan.
A number of consumers and designers—notably British fashion designer and outspoken animal rights activist Stella McCartney—reject fur due to moral beliefs against cruelty to animals.
Animal furs used in garments and trim may be dyed bright colors or with patterns, often to mimic exotic animal pelts: alternatively, they may be left their original pattern and color. Fur may be shorn down to imitate the feel of velvet, creating a fabric called shearling.
The introduction of alternatives in the early 20th century brought tension to the clothing industry as the faux fur manufacturers started producing faux fur and capitalising on profits. By the 1950s synthetic fur garments had become popular and affordable. Newspapers were writing articles on major chemical companies trying to outdo each other in the quest to create the most realistic fake fur.
The popularity of natural fur has declined in recent years. While Vogue Paris published a homage to fur in August 2017, Gucci later endorsed the idea of not using animal fur. Other high-end brands to follow this lead are Stella McCartney, Givenchy, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors, Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini. Burberry announced its intentions to stop sending models with fur on runways but did not stop selling it in stores. Some companies have attempted to devise sustainable methods of producing leather and fur. Designer Ingar Helgason is developing Bio fur which would grows synthetic pelts the way that Modern Meadow has been able to produce grown leather and Diamond foundry-created lab-grown diamonds. BOF fur debate hosted by Zilberkweit director of the British Fur Association argued that natural fur was more sustainable. Others said that chemical processes needed to treat animals' fur in order to be worn are just as detrimental to the environment.
Fashion houses such as Hermès, Dior and Fendi still use natural fur. Alex Mcintosh, who leads the Fashion Futures post-graduate program at London College of Fashion, says "change on this level would only be driven on a genuine lack of demand and not just social media outcry".
Fur sources
Common animal sources for fur clothing and fur trimmed accessories include fox, mink, rabbit, finnraccoon, lynx, bobcat, polecat, muskrat, beaver, stoat, marten, otter, sable, civet, seals, karakul sheep, muskox, caribou, llama, alpaca, skunk, coyote, wolf, chinchilla, opossum, and common brushtail possum. Some of these are more highly prized than others, and there are many grades and colors. In the past animals such as leopards, jaguars, tigers, lemurs, and Colobus monkeys were commonly used but CITES laws and the environmental regulation has made these furs illegal. Additionally, in some regions the furs of domestic dogs and cats are used for warmth.Different furs have different properties; coyote fur is resilient and works as a great wind barrier but is very rough to touch, while fox fur is silky but delicate.
The import and sale of seal products was banned in the US in 1972 over conservation concerns about Canadian seals. The import and sale is still banned even though the Marine Animal Response Society estimates the harp seal population is thriving at approximately 8 million, and the bans harmful impact on Indigenous communities that had relied on seal hunting as a source of international income. The import, export and sales of domesticated cat and dog fur were also banned in the US under the Dog and Cat Protection Act of 2000.
Most of the fur sold by high fashion retailers globally is from farmed animals such as mink, foxes, and rabbits. Some cruel methods of killing have made people more aware as animal rights activists work harder to protect the animals. The 2001 recommendations of the European Commission's Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare state correspondingly: 'In comparison with other farm animals, species farmed for their fur have been subjected to relatively little active selection except with respect to fur characteristics.
Processing of fur
Processing the pelt
The manufacturing of fur clothing involves obtaining animal pelts where the hair is left on. Depending on the type of fur and its purpose, some of the chemicals involved in fur processing may include table salts, alum salts, acids, soda ash, sawdust, cornstarch, lanolin, degreasers, and, less commonly, bleaches, dyes and toners.The first step in the process is the skinning phase. Animals must be frozen in order to make this phase safe, otherwise, the temperature change from the warm body of the animal to the cold environment around it would cause all the hair to fall off the pelt. It's also best for the carcass to be frozen before skinning so that the carcass won't bleed while being skinned. After the carcass is skinned it's then fleshed, dried, salted, pickled, tanned, and then softened. The length of time taken to skin, tan, and process the fur is a contributing factor of the high price.
Workers exposed to fur dust created during fur processing have been shown to have reduced pulmonary function in direct proportion to their length of exposure. The process of fur manufacturing includes waterways-pumping waste and toxic chemicals into the surrounding environment. Dyed furs also do not last as long as natural furs. On the other hand, fur is naturally biodegradable, whereas faux fur is not. Using natural tanning methods such as bark tanning can eliminate the harmful effects of the modern leather and fur tanning industries. Bark tanning involves boiling leaves or bark of trees to extract the tannins that are then used to preserve the hide.
The use of wool involves shearing the animal's fleece from the living animal so that the wool can be regrown but sheepskin shearling is made by retaining the fleece to the leather and shearing it.