Anti-Fur, Karma & Knightsbridge. Saturday 1st December 2007 I came to London mainly to photograph the National Anti-fur march, but arrived rather early and took a walk around Knightsbridge and Hyde Park and after the march went on to see what was happening in Oxford Street and Regent Street where there was a traffic-free day to promote what the Church of Stop Shopping labels the Shopocalypse and stoke global warming. But I was warmed just a little by free hugs from Danny’s Karma Army.
National Anti-fur March – Belgrave Square – Harrods, Knightsbridge
Although farming of animals for fur was banned in this country in 2003, both fur farming and extensive trapping of wild animals for fur still take place in other countries.
Many of the countries where fur farming still takes place allow far more cruel practices than those that led to the ban here on the grounds of animal cruelty. Animals are reared in extremely crowded conditions and killed inhumanely – and on some farms skinned while still alive.
Trapping of animals for their fur also involves cruel practices, with wild animals caught in steel jawed traps, often only found and clubbed or suffocated after several days of agonising pain. Still in use in the USA and Canada, leg-hold traps were banned in the UK in the 1950s.
Yet despite this it remains legal to import most furs into the UK, although imports of seal, cat and dog fur are banned. But the UK still imports £55 million worth of fur a year, and estimated 95% of which comes from fur farms. The government abandoned promises to bring in legislation though they have now stated a willingness to support a private members bill on the matter should one be promoted. It seems unlikely that this will happen before the coming election.
Public opinion is very much against the use of animal fur, with opinion polls showing over 90% would like to see a ban. And most consumers now think that fur on garments is synthetic, but many of the big names in fashion and fashion stores are still designing with and selling animal fur. Their wealthy clients, including many overseas customers perhaps still see expensive animal furs as something to desire rather than as it should be, a badge of shame.
The marchers gathered in Belgrave Square and then marched past many of the shops which in 2007 were still selling garments using animal furs, which then included most of the famous names including Gucci, Versace, Fendi, Amani, Dolce and Gabana. Various stores, including Escada, Joseph and Burberry are also targets for the campaign, but the loudest condemnation was reserved for Harrods, the only department store in the UK still selling fur – and still selling animal fur in 2023.
Protests like this one and the continuing pressure from organisations such as PETA have led to many of thes brands end the use of animal furs. A post on Panaprium lists some who no longer do so: “Versace, Furla, Armani, Calvin Klein, Gucci, Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Shrimps, and Vivienne Westwood” and also high street brands “Topshop, Zara, Gap, French Connection, AllSaints, Hobbs, John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, House of Fraser, Ted Baker, H&M and Whistles“.
But there is still more to do. The Panaprium post by Alex Assoune is headed 28 Shameless Fashion Brands Still Using Fur in 2023 and lists them, as well as stating “There are too many fashion brands that use animal fur to list them all. It’s shockingly disgusting that clothing brands still engage in such barbaric practices for vanity and profits.”
I’d often walked past St Paul’s Church in Wilton Place, a nineteenth century Gothic building (erected in 1840, but much altered 50 years later) but had never before been inside. I’d arrived in Belgrave Square rather a long time before the anti-fur march was ready to start and as the church as open took the opportunity to go inside.
The building is worth a visit, not least for the interesting sepia tile pictures by Daniel Bell dating from 1869-79.
I crossed to Hyde Park, where there was an extensive funfair for the Christmas season and I wandered through it taking a few pictures before hurrying back to the march, stopping to take a couple of pictures of the French Embassy.
Danny’s Karma Army – Taking Kindness Very Seriously – Regent St / Oxford St
Back in 2001, Scottish comedian and presenter Danny Wallace put an advert in a free newspaper call on people to ‘Join Me’ inviting people to join him in carrying out a random act of kindness for a stranger every Friday. To his surprise thousands did and in 2003 he wrote the book ‘Join Me’ about how he he “accidentally started a ‘cult‘” .
Initially known as ‘Join Me’ this movement became known as Danny’s Karma Army, and on December 1st 2007, some of them were out on Regent Street which together with Oxford Street was enjoying a traffic-free day for shoppers.
As I wrote in 2007:
There were a few street performers and musicians, but generally it seemed a recipe for incredible levels of boredom and immoderate spending, with one credit card company offering special prizes to big spenders.
The only relief from this was offered by members of Danny’s Karma Army who were offering free sweets and free hugs – and I took advantage of both as well as some pictures.
They do “random nice things for strangers on Fridays” but were putting in a bit of overtime on a Saturday. As well as rather silly and pointless things, some also apparently do rather more useful things like becoming first-aiders and supporting charities with money or time. So although personally I’d run a mile from a cult leader like Danny, good luck to them. And thanks for the sweets and hugs.
You can hear more about Danny Wallace in a podcast interview with James O’Brien and hear Wallace now every week when “The Great Leader and his I.B.S (Important Broadcast Squad) assemble every Sunday morning from 11am – 1pm!” on an Apple Podcast Radio X, also available live on DAB.
Back when we lived in caves and hunted animals for food it made sense to use their skins and fur for clothing. Even before the wide availability of synthetic materials in the second half of the last century fur there were still some functional reasons for using fur. And though it is possible to imagine that fur animals could be farmed without excessive cruelty, it seems very doubtful if this has ever actually taken place. The idea of ‘ethically sourced fur’ seems a nonsense – you can read how fur is acutally produced in one of mny articles on the PETA web-site, Inside the Fur Industry: Factory Farms.
But fur was a luxury item, one that signified wealth and privilege. A mink coat was something for women to aspire to, something that advertised their success in the world, though for those of us in the poorer areas it was often regarded as being all “fur coat and no knickers” marking out its showy and seemingly elegant wearer as vulgar and sexually immoral.
Our dressing-up box as kids – all from jumble sales – included a moth-eaten red fox scarf complete with head and tail. It smelt strongly, though perhaps not of fox. But the fox trims on my mothers’ coats owed their life to crude petroleum rather than any any living animal.
I’m not a fan of foxes. I’ve seen what they do in a chicken run, and it isn’t pretty. Last year I left a recently bough expensive pair of boots outside our back door overnight and one of our local foxes came and took a bite out of them – and they leave foul-smelling excrement on our yard to attract the unwary shoe. Of course I’m against hunting, but would certainly support measures that cut there populations perhaps by eliminating the waste food that has powered their growth thanks to fast-food outlets and fining those urban dwellers who leave out food for them.
But we don’t need fur for clothing. And I’m shocked to find real fur coats and scarves still being sold in shops and on-line. I’d even be in favour of banning the sale of ‘vintage fur’ as this perpetuates the idea of fur as a luxury that sustains the cruelty to animals of producing new fur. And I don’t believe there is such a thing as ‘ethically sourced fur’ which shops including Harrods continue to push.
As the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade pointed out in 2018: “Harrods is one of only two department stores in the UK which continues to sell real fur, even though the production of fur is illegal in the UK.” Hopes in 2010 that a change in ownership might change the policy were optimistic – and you can still buy fur there – should you want a gilet “crafted from mink fur – a delicate yet warming material that exudes undeniable glamour” it could be yours for just £8,910.
CAFT in 2018 wrote “The last survey at Harrods revealed a wide range of real fur garments on sale on display throughout the store, and included items made from beaver, chinchilla, red fox, arctic fox, mink, musquash, rabbit, wolf, coyote and squirrel.” They organise regular protests there and at other shops selling real fur products.
I found it hard not to admire the determination of the protesters and the inventive nature of many of their posters, placards, costumes and props, all of which made it easy to take interesting photographs – though there were a few activists who were not keen to be photographed. But I couldn’t help wishing that they could transfer some of their creative anger to protests over the way humans are being treated around the world and support these as well.
