Whilst visiting my boyfriend in the Alps this holiday, I was amazed to see how many women were wearing fur coats. One rather fabulous women I chatted to in a bar exclaimed, "oh darling, once you’ve worn fur you’ll never go back", after I enquired whether or not the jacket she was wearing was faux or the real deal. This led me to wonder - how comfortable would I feel with people so readily drawing a parallel between myself and Cruella de Ville?

Agyness Deyn is one such celebrity who has recently fallen fowl of this distinction when she was spotted wearing a white vintage fur coat in Manhattan last week whilst walking her dogs (the mind boggles), when just the month before she had been photographed sporting an anti-fur sticker. Obviously Agyness Deyn is in no way the first (or the last) celebrity to receive bad press for cheerleading the fur industry. Elizabeth Hurley is another celebrity to endorse the American fur company Blackglama (following in the footsteps of the likes of Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor and Naomi Campbell) and has received serious criticism from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) for doing so.

Animal activism and fashion have had a long and tempestuous relationship. The iconic Julien MacDonald show for Spring/Summer 2006 being my personal favourite. Julien MacDonald’s shows are always a fashion week highlight, and this particular show will be forever remembered for the kafuffle between animal rights groups and the celebrity models (most notably Paris Hilton and Naomi Campbell) who floured the celebrity guests as they made their entrance to the after show party.

Clearly the issue here is not which celebrity is being slated for wearing fur but the treatment of animals that are being used in the fur trade and the ambiguous methods that it is claimed are used in the industry. Although I won’t pretend that this short article is able to highlight the issues at hand, the fur trade is always an emotive topic within fashion and one worthy of due consideration and discussion. Admittedly as students, few of us would be able to go out and buy a mink coat even if we wanted to, but with high quality faux pieces in every price range is there any need? When even wearing a vintage piece could perpetuate the fur trade that continues to thrive, wearing any form of fur is more than your day to day fashion decision but also a moral one, which (whether you support the fur industry or not) should be taken very seriously.