lagerfeld says when you wear a sable coat and you look like you are in a sable coat, then it's the end, it goes no where
luxury is being in silk or fur but not caring or showing off that you are wearing those things
it's just another material
Well... ok.... yet some materials are hideous. Nothing changes that. I do not necessarily understand your point here I am afraid. Of course one must carry luxury with an air of effortlessness and flair, but some materials just look awful. Lynx coats with their cloudy spots and weird hair lengths never give a good shape imo.
Corduroy is also just another material. yet I do not remember seeing Babe Paley wearing it just because she is used to luxury and the material wouldn't matter.
I wish ethical fashion was more prevelant. I want to design faux-leather and non-leather shoes!!!!
Faux leather and fur are made of petroleum. It is terrible for the environment in every way. its waste is huge, the color pigments are toxic. The level of energy spent to change something as poisonous as petroleum to fibers of fine hair or leather sheets is enormous.
It is far worse for the planet, and to our natural resources like fresh water beds, oceans and air.
^ I'm actually not sure about that.
I think it's better for an animal to have a life in the wild. I buy bison from a herd that ranges (and grazes) through many states. I'm quite certain that the animals' quality of life is better than if they were farmed.
I also know of someone who only eats meat from animals he hunts himself (usually elk).
So it seems to me like the same would hold true for non-endangered animals whose skins are used for clothing and accessories.
You need color and quality consistency to create a good coat. And a huge number of animals. You cannot wait to shoot one sable at a time to create a coat which will perhaps use 30-50 of these animals. Then there wouldn't be a fur industry/leather to speak of.
You need to produce identical animals, and skin them accordingly to create a coat worthy of the time, effort, all these animals' lives and all that money. Chinchilas are basically rats. You need so many of them to be able to put a coat together. At least 50. And I believe they no longer can be found in the wild anyways. There is no way you can you can kill a crocodile in the wild and hope that it will have stunning skin, without any scratches, 'defects' or blemishes, that can be turned into a Birkin. Those defective skins are eliminated: calf, croc, ostrich... no matter what it may be.
In terms of luxury design, quality control is the key. I say it is important not to r*pe the natural resources and habitats while we satisfy our needs for these skins and materials. It is only in farms you can get the best skins and furs free off any imperfections. That is how Hermes does it, and that it how it has always been.
So it is not exactly like eating the meat of an ethically questionable animal like bison or elk.
In the long run, maintaining populations where these animals are supposed to live on the planet is far more important. The farm animals are bred for us anyways. Risking to sound a little jaded, but they only exist for one purpose sadly. Same with cows whose milk we drink, and chicken whose eggs we eat.
But yes, I like what luluposh says about giving people wages for hard work making clothing. I don't know much about this argument, but I don't believe in unethical treatment of employees. Payment should be made where it's due.
