The fashion week circuit is in full flow with industry insiders now in Paris having attended London, Milan and New York. But as trends are now starting to seep through, with yellow shades, standout stripes and neutral hues all key components for the season ahead, a rather unexpected fabric has joined the long line-up of soon-to-be-everywhere styles: faux fur.

In Milan, Marni made faux fur coats a key moment in its autumn/winter show, sending yeti-like coats, fur-fringed capes and tufted tops down the catwalk. Diesel contrasted faux fur and florals, with extreme, matted knits and shaved ‘monster fur’ coats, and Giorgio Armani mixed red, grey and navy dyes to create dynamic designs.

Over in London, similar styles stood out with Natasha Zinko, David Koma and 16Arlington all sending fluffy coats down the runway. This cultural shift from real to faux fur is something to be celebrated, but does the animal-free fabric come with its own list of issues?

“On the positive side, [faux fur] spares countless animals from suffering and death in the fur industry, aligning with ethical and animal welfare concerns,” Slow Fashion Movement board member Puja Mj tells Stylist. According to Peta, approximately 100 million animals a year face this fate, whether used to create a coat, a fur trim or a trinket. And without going into too much detail, Peta’s description of the way some of these animals are treated (throughout their lives as well as at the time of death) is as horrific as the sheer scale of numbers involved.

“At the juncture of climate catastrophe, we can not envision restoring ecological balance through change in the fashion industry if we factor out our fellow animals,” adds Mj. A cultural shift away from real skins is well underway, as major fashion houses including Chanel, Saint Laurent, Valentino, Prada, Gucci, Burberry, Hugo Boss, Armani, Tommy Hilfiger and Vivienne Westwood are all either new or longstanding members of the fur-free movement. A striking contrast for many who would have proudly showcased real fur within their collections only a couple of decades ago. 

However, while this shift may at first seem wholly positive, the sustainability question is more complicated. As Mj explains: “The production of faux fur generally requires fewer resources compared to real fur, reducing the strain on ecosystems and habitats,” but it typically has a lengthy list of planet-polluting problems. 

“Faux fur is currently ordinarily made from synthetic fibres, and ultimately clothing that is synthetic is a major contributor to the microplastics that greatly harm our marine life and end up in the food we consume,” says Emma Slade Edmondson, a sustainability and behaviour change consultant. 

These synthetic fibres, such as polyester and acrylic, are made from non-renewable sources with a “manufacturing process that emits greenhouse gases and other pollutants, contributing to climate change and environmental degradation,” adds Mj.

So, although faux fur offers a cruelty-free option for consumers, its reliance on petrochemical-based materials underscores the importance of seeking sustainable alternatives and improving manufacturing processes, according to Mj. The good news is that these improved faux fur fabrics are starting to pop up in the fashion world.

“The innovation happening in this space is huge,” says Edmondson. “For example, 100% plant-based Savian BioFluff is biodegradable through industrial compositing and is already a hit with luxury brands. It contains zero plastics or petrochemicals, unlike many of the more traditionally used faux furs on the market, and instead uses fibres extracted from agricultural waste and plants like nettle, hemp and flax, meaning the production of this alternative has no energy-intensive yarn spinning process either.” Ecopel is another example of a faux fur manufacturer that has just released a fully biodegradable vegan fur-like material. And Katherine Hamnett is using ‘bio-fur’ made from cotton and mohair fibres, which although is still animal-derived is said to hold much higher ethical standards than typical fur pelts as the animal is not killed. 

What do we do with all the real fur items that are already in existence? “I would never advocate the use of animal fur in virgin products and, to be honest, especially as I age, I feel more uncomfortable about wearing animal fur, even if it is secondhand or vintage because I do believe in wearing your values and wholistic feelgood fashion and that clearly extends into many levels of advocacy for what we believe in coupled with an understanding of extraction and pollution,” Edmondson tells Stylist.

“However, I do think that keeping clothes in circulation as opposed to creating virgin materials is smart, and important. And also culturally sensitive where we are looking at pieces made by Indigenous creators or people for whom the creation of said pieces was culturally relevant. We should never be sending existing materials to landfill,” she adds. 

Images: courtesy of Diesel; Marni; Natasha Zinko