Fur trade in decline as fashion changes and animal rights campaigns prompt government regulations or bans on fur farming
- Animal-fur coats are no longer fashionable in many places and sales have dwindled. Campaign group Peta’s animal rights push against fur farms is a factor too
- Faux fur companies are trying to fill the void as top fashion houses gravitate away from animal fur, but the alternatives face environmental issues of their own
There was a time when a mink coat was the ultimate status item. It was seen as an investment piece passed down through generations.
But grandma’s mink coat may not be fought over any more. Animal rights campaigns, government regulations and changing trends have pushed the fur industry into decline.
Back in the day, working in the fur industry was a profitable business for furriers like Jerry Sorbara. He opened his store in New York in 1975, a time when fur was a regular feature on the fashion catwalk. Sorbara said he’s sold about 40,000 fur garments since then, some of which he says went to none other than Elizabeth Taylor.
In 1977, retail sales of fur in the US reportedly surpassed US$600 million. A representative from the American Fur Industry, a trade association, told The New York Times that by the late 1980s, retail sales had reached US$1.9 billion.
In those days, business was booming for Sorbara. He said he made more than US$400,000 on a single Saturday in February of 1986 – more than what he made the entire last year he was in business. He shut down his store 34 years later, in February 2020, and now works out of his home in the state of Connecticut, where he serves between 24 to 30 customers per year.