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The cult Scottish rock singer Shirley Manson is to become the latest celebrity recruit in the rear-guard action against the re-emergence of fur on the catwalk and on the backs of the world's wealthiest and most famous women.
Manson, who fronted the band Garbage before embarking on a solo career, will be pictured in a hard-hitting ad campaign launched today by the animal rights organisation Peta (People for the ethical treatment of animals).
Wearing a simple Stella McCartney evening gown Manson holds up a skinned fox over the caption 'Here's the rest of your fur coat'.
It is a campaign which last month saw the R&B singer Jamelia pictured naked with a white rabbit on her back and which promises many more celebrity shock adverts, according to Peta.
"For every celebrity who wears a fur coat we have 100 lining up who want to use their fame to raise people's awareness," said Anita Singh, of the organisation.
In December Madonna appeared in a 35,000 pound coat made from the skins of 40 chinchillas and in February Naomi Campbell, who once appeared in a Peta advert claiming she'd rather go naked than wear fur, took to the catwalk wearing a fur-trimmed parker.
Designers such as Julien MacDonald, Dior and Gucci are also using fur and Harrods and high-street store Joseph are selling fur again.
All have contributed to making the fur wearing steadily more acceptable since the last time the controversy raged a decade ago.
In November the Independent on Sunday revealed that sales of fur clothing had hit 500 million pounds for the first time, up 30 per cent on the previous two years, with 40 million pounds of new fur products being imported every year.
Figures compiled by HM Customs and Revenue showed that almost one million tons of fur are being imported each year - and that the global market for fur has hit almost 7 billion pounds.
But the backlash has been equally fierce, and effective.
During British fashion week anti-fur campaigners pelted Julien MacDonald with flour on the opening night.
The designer Tommy Hilfiger announced over the weekend that he was joining Calvin Klein in refusing to use fur products.
Prada is also said to be "bored" of fur and hasn't used any in this year's collection.
Shirley Manson, whose image was shot in Los Angeles where she now lives, said: "A lot of my fans are very pro-animal rights and have often, when I have been wearing fake fur, said, 'is that real?' and gotten upset, and I have to reassure them, 'no, it's cool, it's fake, don't worry.
"They have made me very conscious of it and I'm really grateful they have made me pay attention. I believe very strongly in the ethical treatment of animals."
It's not just foxes that worry Peta.
The group claims that millions of cats and dogs are killed in China each year for their fur.
It is stripped off them while they are still alive and imported to Europe often under false labelling.
Ms Singh added: "On European and American fur farms, animals spend their entire lives confined to tiny, filthy cages, where they go insane before they are killed by poisoning, gassing, electrocution or neck-breaking.
"An undercover investigation found that millions of dogs and cats in China - now the world's leading exporter of fur - are bludgeoned, hanged, strangled with wire nooses and bled to death for their fur, which is often deliberately mislabelled as fur from other species.
"Fur farming has been banned in the UK, yet fur from animals killed in other countries is still sold in the UK."
Frank Zilberkweit, a director of the British Fur Trade Association and owner of London's biggest furrier, Hockley Furs, responded: "Peta is using a cheap stunt by using a fox carcass. It's a cowardly and shameful attempt to try to condemn a real industry that provides employment while regulating standards in animal welfare."
- INDEPENDENT
