Fur companies lure designers with freebies and sponsorship

[Animal 0]

Fur companies lure designers with freebies and sponsorship

(Saga)


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Helen Nugent and Carolyn Asome

Fur companies are offering lucrative sponsorship deals and expensive trips to
British designers in an attempt to break the taboo on fur, an investigation by
The Times has found.

After a ban on fur farming in Britain and successful campaigns by anti-fur
groups, designers have been reluctant to promote ranges in this country for fear
of retaliation. Now it has emerged that the large companies, including Saga Furs
and Kopenhagen Fur, both in Denmark, are providing expensive furs free to
British designers, as well as entertaining designers and stylists at their
Scandanavian headquarters.

Designers said that in the present financial climate, sponsorship from fur
companies could make the difference between putting on a show or being able to
hire the right model. One said: "No one appreciates just how tough it is right
now. If you were offered free fur which looks glamorous and expensive and you
were assured it was ethically farmed then why wouldn't you go ahead and stick it
in your show?"

Another young British designer, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "Designers
are approached by the fur companies. They offer you a trip to their fur centre
in the country, it's a nice jolly and you don't have to pay for anything.
Although you would have to pay for materials if the clients ordered all the
garments after seeing them on the catwalk, the samples are all free. The
sponsorship is worth thousands of pounds."

According to the British Fur Trade Association, sales are buoyant despite London
being the least pro-fur of the four main fashion capitals.

At London Fashion Week last month, fur was in abundance on the catwalks for the
first time in years. In addition to coats and jackets, fur trims and accessories
were highly visible. Issa, a London-based designer, used fur for the first time
in London.

The company collaborated with Kopenhagen Fur, which provided all the materials
free. Issa can keep the pieces for a year then they are returned to the
supplier.

Todd Lynn, a Canadian-born designer, also included fur in his collection in
February. His fur was provided by Saga Furs at no cost. He said: "I can
understand the ethical side of it, you do hear horror stories but I was working
with Saga and all their products are `origin assured', they are ethically
produced. It's like a sponsorship deal. They provide the products and the
expertise to make it so I can have it on the catwalk."

Mark Townsend, a spokesman for Saga Furs, said: "It is important for us to have
fur on the catwalk. If it's on the catwalk, then it's in catalogues and people
buy it. London is important not in terms of sales but in terms of talent. It's
good to work with London designers, it's good for PR."

Louise Amstrup, a London-based designer from Denmark, was sponsored by
Kopenhagen during Danish Fashion Week. She said: "We were looking for a
collaboration when I was offered the chance to open Copenhagen fashion week. My
budget was limited. Kopenhagen invited me to their studio and I was briefed on
the breeders and how the fur is created. After that, I felt confident it was a
product I could work with."

Furriers insist that their product is ethically produced but this is disputed by
designers who have visited the factories and by animal rights activists.

In the Danish countryside, the headquarters of Saga Furs is a historic manor
built more than 100 years ago for a renowned opera singer. One designer who had
been a guest of the company at the retreat, said: "It is not ethical at all. The
animals are confined, they are in small, cramped spaces, they are not running
around, they do not have a natural life. The furriers may say it's humane but it
depends on what you call humane."

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) says that confined animals
suffer from intense boredom, many so severely that they display neurotic
behaviours such as pacing, turning in endless circles, self-mutilation and even
cannibalism. The crowding is particularly distressing to minks, solitary
creatures that may occupy as much as 2,500 acres of wetland habitat in the wild.

"Most people in this country recognise that the fur industry is totally cruel
and want nothing to do with it," said Poorva Joshipura, director of special
projects at Peta. "There is nothing fashionable about the ways animals die for
their fur. The companies are always going to maximise their profits at the
expense of their animals. It is a violent, bloody industry. There is no nice way
to rip the fur off an animal's back."

THE SKIN TRADE

— Fur sales worldwide totalled $15bn (£10bn) in 2007, up 11 per cent on the
previous year with nine years of continuous growth

— Britain's fur trade turnover is about £400m-£500m a year

— In the European Union, fur retail turnover was $5 billion in 2007

— More than 1m people work full-time in the fur trade worldwide

— In Denmark, fur farming was worth 750m euros in 2006, making it the country's
third largest export after bacon and cheese

— Fur farming is banned in Britain

— Most farmed fur, which accounts for about 80-85 per cent of the global trade,
comes from Europe and North America. The largest producers in the EU are
Denmark, Finland, Netherlands and Poland

— China is the biggest fur producer. Peta says that it has no laws to monitor
farms or to ensure that fur is properly labelled

Sources: British Fur Trade Association; Peta

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article5947260.e\
ce