THE FASHION INDUSTRY isn't called fickle for nothing. A decade ago, fur wearers were widely considered evil or stupid, particularly in Britain and the United States. Fur-coat wearers were attacked with paint; a dead raccoon was thrown at shameless fur fan Anna Wintour, editor of American Vogue, while she was dining out. She reportedly covered the animal's body with a napkin and carried on eating. Anti-fur organisation Lynx (now defunct) depicted supermodels in fur coats dripping with blood under the slogan: 'It took up to 40 dumb animals to make a fur coat but only one to wear it.'
Now, fur has come out of the fashion closet - and the glossies are awash with pictures of models and celebrities in the latest designer pelts. Naomi 'I'd rather go naked than wear fur' Campbell, once the celebrity face of animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), was sacked by the organisation for wearing fur in 1997 and hasn't looked back since. Another former anti, Cindy Crawford, made a catwalk comeback in furry splendour at Roberto Cavalli's Milan show last month.
Most designers are now using furs as freely as any other fabric and Stella McCartney's fur- and leather-free collections are the only notable exception. In recent weeks, Celine featured red-fox bomber jackets, Dolce & Gabbana sent out mink jackets and a fox coat with leopardskin lining, and there was so much fur at Fendi it seemed designers Karl Lagerfeld and Sylvia Fendi were indulging a fetish. Even the usually minimalist Prada went full pelt.
'Almost every leading fashion designer is now using fur in collections - up from 170 designers last year to 300 this year,' says Brenda Fung of the Hong Kong Fur Federation (HKFF). 'Department stores and boutiques such as Christian Dior and Chanel were full of fur last winter.'
But Hong Kong tells a different story: even in the face of a mild climate, fur never really went away. The HKFF annual gala for celebrities, designers and industry types has been held for more than 20 years. Socialites such as Lelia Chow, Lily Wong and Olivia Davies often sport fur stoles, jackets and bags around town. No SAR department stores follow the example of their counterparts in the US and Britain, such as Selfridges, which maintains a no-fur policy. Lane Crawford has a long-established fur section and Seibu wouldn't be adverse to one.
'Because of the weather we have more demand for leather and shearling [the skin of a year-old sheep that has been sheared once],' says Frankieanna Woo, senior buyer for Seibu's ladies division. 'But items with fur trim are becoming popular and we're quite keen on fur.'