By VERONICA SANSUR
The new collections of Italian brand Gucci will be fur-free, and I cannot be any prouder of this new decision. This will take effect from the spring-summer 2018 collection, stated Gucci’s president Marco Bizzarri, at the London College of Fashion. Moreover, Kitty Block, president of Humane Society International, celebrated the luxury Gucci’s choice and said that is a “compassionate decision”.
“Gucci going fur-free is a huge game-changer,” she said in a statement. “For this Italian powerhouse to end the use of fur because of the cruelty involved will have a huge ripple effect throughout the world of fashion.”
To me, it is outstanding that big brands are noticing how harmful and horrible is to make clothes and accessories with animal skin. Now, Gucci will be part of Fur Free Alliance, and although there are around 40 brands and organizations, there are still other big brands that do not care about this at all. I agree 100 percent with Bizzarri when he said that companies must have a commitment to protect every single species on this Earth.
“Being socially responsible is one of Gucci’s core values, and we will continue to strive to do better for the environment and animals,” Bizzari said.
It is true that since the beginning of time, humans have killed animals to survive, but now we are not living in prehistoric times, so there is no excuse for murdering innocent animals.
Since the beginning of our existence we used animal skins for protection against the cold, although now it is also for fashion and looking fancy. Because of the improvement of technology and the evolution of man, currently you can find better, more comfortable, cheaper and less bloody clothes or accessories. But, people are still using dead animals to adorn their bodies, and I still cannot understand how they do that. Imagine walking through the streets with dead bodies of 60 minks, 20 foxes, 15 seal pups, 10 raccoons, eight wolves and six leopards that are necessary to sacrifice for only one coat, only making the fashion industry richer.
According to a report by Cry of the Innocent, every year about 20 million animals are hunted for the sole purpose of using their skins. This includes man’s best friends the dog and the cat, who are brutally killed to trade their fur by companies with no respect for life. The dog and cat are part of the 40 million of animals that are raised on farms, where conditions of captivity and slaughter are equally terrible.
To make the production of skins cheaper, the animals are kept throughout their lives in small cages where they barely have room to move and can never do things like running or swimming. This is especially stressful for semi-aquatic animals, such as minks, because even though they have water troughs, they never have free access to the water for swimming.
While reading this you may think that I am a hundred percent vegetarian and animal lover. You are wrong. It is not the same to kill an animal for health and survival than for fashion and pleasure. Carnivores eat the omnivores and herbivores. That is the circle of life. Likewise, animals do not suffer in the process of being killed. This is not all the time, which I am also against conditions in which animals are tortured to then be eaten by us.
These people that torture animals give more value to a skin than to an innocent life, farm animals are killed by being electrocuted by mouth or even anal, other times they are drowned to death. The most terrible thing, is that sometimes their skin is taken off and they are not even dead. This is to not damage the fur with blood. Imagining how painful this could be to a little animal gives me a mixture of sadness and anger. The remains of its bodies are then transformed into food for dogs and cats or fertilizers, according to a report by Slate.
Moreover, millions of wild animals are trapped in their habitat every year. The traps hunters’ use can cause an indescribable agony in the animals, destroying their bones and tearing their flesh. Desperate for fear and excruciating pain, their jaws can be broken because they try to bite the traps, or even they can end tearing their paws. According to Fur Commision, only in the U.S there are approximately 275 mink farms in 23 states, they produce about 3 million pelts annually, with a value of more than $300 million. The more that people buy these animal fur clothes, the more farms will be and due this, more kills.
If you buy this type of clothing you are part of the problem, because the strength of the consumer is the only one able to end the fur industry. I applaud the new trend of Gucci, but we have a long route to still walk. From small traders, to big companies, humans have created hell on Earth for animals. Although, I am only talking about the fur trade, Gucci still is using leather in their bags and shoes. They are still part of this problem. Animals are still been murdered because of them. Moreover, there is also a long list on how animals have disappeared because of us, like deforestation and global warming. As a fashion designer Stella McCartney, whose own brand is fully vegetarian, said once, “It’s not relevant, it’s not sexy, it’s not fashionable, and it’s not cool.”
Veronica Sansur can be reached at veronica.sansur@spartans.ut.edu