I have a mink stole that belonged to my grandmother that is at least 70 years old. It featured heavily in the years my siblings and I played dress-ups but rarely made it out of the house. The last time I wore it was to my 21st birthday party, which was well over a decade ago. Despite wearing leather and occasionally eating meat, I would hesitate to wear it anywhere now.
In the past few years, real fur has fallen out of favour with much of the fashion industry. Luxury brands including Gucci, Chanel, Burberry and Prada have gone fur-free, as have fast-fashion brands such as Zara and H&M. The fur trade has been banned in Britain, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and some parts of the US. Notably, Australia does not have specific laws banning all fur imports or farming.
But with the rise of brat summer, the mob wife look and the end of the clean girl aesthetic, the appearance of fur, at least, is trending. So it’s worth asking the question: is it OK to wear vintage fur?
The environmental and ethical considerations
The arguments for and against wearing vintage fur are about environmental impact and animal welfare. For: wearing high-quality secondhand garments such as fur reduces consumption and is better for the environment. Against: it’s inhumane to wear and encourage the consumption of animal skins.
With vintage fur, “you’re buying and wearing a natural, secondhand, high-performance product that was crafted by hand by artisans at some point”, says Alden Wicker, the editor and founder of Ecocult. “When it was first sold, it was priced appropriately to the craftsmanship and preciousness of the material and it is meant to last for decades. I don’t think you could wear a more sustainable and ethical fashion object.”
But for animal welfare advocates such as Emma Håkansson, who is the founding director of the advocacy group Collective Fashion Justice, the answer isn’t so straightforward. She argues that a sacrifice made by an animal in the 1980s isn’t any less real because it happened four decades ago. “Wearing fur means wearing the skin of someone [an animal] who suffered and was slaughtered for the sake of fashion,” she says. “Whether that fur is new or vintage, that truth remains unchanged.”
Is vintage fur actually sustainable?
Overwhelmingly, fashion’s environmental impacts are driven by overconsumption and its reliance on fossil fuel-based fibres. Since real fur gets passed between generations it has an environmental advantage: it is more sustainable to wear something already in existence than it is to buy something new. Fur is a valued item because, in addition to its texture and lustre, “it does its job so beautifully. It really is amazingly warm,” Wicker says.
In comparison, the majority of faux furs are made from plastic, shed microfibres, won’t biodegrade and hold on to stains and smells, which makes them inherently more disposable.
But the choice between vintage and synthetic fur does kind of present a false dichotomy since we don’t have to wear either, Håkansson says. “We could wear neither and buy vintage coats that aren’t made of fur.”
If the animal died decades ago, is it OK to wear fur?
On its face the animal rights argument is simple: if an animal died for a fur garment to exist, wearing it is morally reprehensible. But arguably, if the animal was killed decades ago and the fur has passed through several owners, this erases the current owner’s moral culpability.
“The fact is the animal died a long time ago,” says Jon Jackson, the owner of Linda Black. “Fur has kept us warm for centuries … it should be used.”
Animal rights activists such as Håkansson believe the time lag is irrelevant – an animal died for the garment to exist and that’s that. Besides, she says, “wearing vintage fur undoubtedly normalises the wearing of new fur, as it perpetuates the notion that the skins of animals are acceptable ‘materials’ at all”.
The speciesism argument
The second part of the animal rights argument is about speciesism: our tendency to treat some species as more important than others. For example, cat and dog fur are prohibited imports into Australia but mink and fox fur are not.
“Ethical consistency is important here,” Håkansson says. “If someone wouldn’t wear vintage dog fur, wearing vintage fox fur would only be viewed differently as a result of speciesism.”
In the context of how common it is to wear leather – another animal skin – speciesism (and our contradictory behaviour) becomes even more apparent. If we are comfortable wearing cow skin, why is fox or mink skin any different?
The justification for wearing leather is that it is a co-product of the meat industry, whereas most of the fur trade is not (except rabbit fur). But in the case of vintage fur, it’s near impossible to know what sourcing practices were in place. So what it comes down to is your individual value system and what you are comfortable with.
Ultimately, according to Jackson: “If you eat meat, wear leather shoes or have a leather handbag, you have already made your ethical choice.”
By wearing vintage fur, are we honouring the animal?
The final part of the animal rights conversation is the idea that by continuing to wear and appreciate vintage fur it honours the animal.
“Real fur coats deserve to be honoured and used for as long as possible, like any well-crafted antique,” Wicker says. “Throwing one out would be akin to burning down a building made out of redwoods.”
Håkansson, however, disagrees. “I don’t see the continued commodification of an animal as honour or respect of them,” she says. “The continued wearing of fur promotes the dishonourable caging and killing of animals for fashion, not the lives of those lost to it.”
Other ways to reuse vintage furs
If, like me, you find yourself somewhere in the middle of this debate – able to appreciate the value and beauty of fur but very unlikely to ever wear it again – there are some other ways you can reuse or recycle it.
Specialists such as Jackson at Linda Black remodel vintage furs into rugs or throws. Håkansson, meanwhile, suggests donating furs to wildlife rescue shelters or shelters for abandoned pets where they are used in place of synthetic beds to keep animals comfortable and warm.
