For anyone who worries that faux fur may not be as "green" as other options, consider this: Before a fur garment reaches the local mall, it is soaked in a bath of chemicals--including sulfuric acid, ammonium chloride, formaldehyde, lead acetate, sodium perborate and more--to keep it from decomposing in the buyer's closet. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, one of the chemicals used to dye furs, hexavalent chromium, is a hazardous waste.
As designer Marc Bouwer (who uses no fur, leather or wool in his collections) points out, the technology used to produce faux fur will continue to improve. "But death is death."
So when you're out shopping for clothes this fall, remember that sometimes it's OK--in fact, it's preferred--to "fake it." "Technical advances are so perfect you can hardly tell fake fur from the real thing," says Lagerfeld. "Fake is not chic " but fake fur is."
Paula Moore is a research specialist for The PETA Foundation, 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510; www.PETA.org.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
