Fur has been used to make clothing for hundreds of thousands of years. However, it appears after all this time that popular trend might be falling out of fashion.
Kim Kardashian has been photographed wearing fur in the past, but announced in 2019 that she was ditching all of her fur clothing and replacing it with faux fur duplicates.
Read more below about fur fashion and Kim’s switch to faux fur.
Fur in the Fashion Industry
Humans have used fur to make clothing for about 170,000 years.
However, it was not until the Victorian era, around two hundred years ago, that fur became so iconic within fashion. Due to industrialization, production rates sped up and disposable income rose, meaning that more people could spend money and time trying to create or find the perfect fashion finery.
Throughout the twentieth century, the wearing of fur was often linked to famous movie stars or fabulous, wealthy women entering large dancing halls to socialize with one another.
Fur was worn on red carpets, seen at fashion shows and used by big brands in the business. In 2016, the National Geographic reported that, “fur farms dominate the trade, and production has more than doubled since the 1990s, to about a hundred million skins last year, mostly mink and some fox.”
However, as an increasing amount of people in the West become conscious of climate change, and the rate of animal extinction increases, more and more top designers are deciding to go fur-free.
In 2019, fashion magazine Vogue reported that many brands have stopped using fur altogether. The ones that they list include Burberry, Chanel, Gucci, Versace, Balmain, Maison Margiela and Giorgio Armani.
Famous fashion designer, and owner of the Fendi fashion collection, Silvia Fendi told Vogue, “we don’t use fake fur, but sometimes we use chiffon, cashmere, and wool—all-natural materials—to mimic fur.”
Donatella Versace also jumped on the bandwagon, telling the magazine, “fur? I am out of that. I don’t want to kill animals to make fashion—it doesn’t feel right.”
Kim Finally Cuts Out Fur
Kim, a celebrity well known for her glamorous fashion choices and one who has attended New York Fashion week since 2006, has always loved incorporating animal print into her outfits, and wearing animal skins and furs.
However, her clothing decisions have not always been met with the best of responses. In 2012, the fashion icon was “flour bombed” as she walked the red carpet in leather pants by an angry PETA supporter.
Throughout the years, Kim has been harassed by many animal-rights protesters for her fashion choices but finally decided to give up on wearing fur after long-term vegan and animal rights activist, Pamela Anderson sent her a letter asking her to cut fur out from her fashion, along with a coral faux mink coat that she custom-designed with Russian manufacturer Only Me.
In 2019, Kim had all of her fur clothing redesigned in faux fur. Her daughter, North West, can be seen sporting a large, white, toasty-looking faux fur coat in one of Kim’s Instagram snaps. Kim captioned the photograph, “remember when I wore this! She picked out the same look lol but fun fact- I took all of my fave furs and remade them in faux fur.” Click the link below to see the full post.
The Kardashian Kollection
In 2011, Kim and two of her sisters, Kourtney and Khloé Kardashian launched The Kardashian Kollection at Sears, a fashion line selling clothing, swimwear, shoes, accessories and more. However, Kim’s fashion line was nowhere near as successful as her later beauty line KKW beauty, and by 2013 it was clear that the business was a flop. By 2015 The Kardashian Kollection was no more and the sisters moved on to try to find success elsewhere.
So, although Kim once loved her fur fashion, it appears that the social media mogul is turning sharply in the other direction, led by current trends, with all KKW beauty products cruelty-free and Kanye West being rumoured to bring out vegan Yeezy shoes in 2020.