Is fur making a comeback? Since the start of winter, celebrities with millions of followers on Instagram have been showing off their furry overcoats, real or fake: Kendall Jenner, wrapped up in a chocolate jacket on vacation in Aspen, Kim Kardashian, as hairy as a gray yeti at the museum or Dua Lipa in a zebra-print shearling coat at a party. The mob wife aesthetic, characterized by very conspicuous fur as an outward sign of wealth, is all the rage online: Google searches for "mob wives aesthetic" increased by 2,500% during the month of January, during which, on TikTok, the hashtag #mobwifeaesthetics exceeded 50 million views per week.
This renewed interest is surprising. Perceived as a symbol of cruelty to animals, real fur has become very unpopular in public opinion – 9 out of 10 French people are opposed to its trade, according to a 2021 French Institute of Public Opinion poll in partnership with the Fondation 30 Millions d’Amis. At the Institut Français de la Mode (IFM), which trains tomorrow's fashion designers, the director of the master's degree in fashion design Leyla Neri has observed "a profound rejection from students, who no longer want to work with real fur," for several years. Camille Gabbi, co-founder of Imparfaite, a second-hand fashion website, said: "We wondered whether we should stop selling real fur after receiving so many negative comments accusing us of legitimizing the aesthetics of fur."
Fashion brands, scalded by the spectacular actions of animal rights groups, have mostly distanced themselves from real fur: Chanel gave it up in 2018, the Kering group (Gucci, Balenciaga, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta and McQueen) in 2021 and Dolce & Gabbana in 2022. Even Moncler and Canada Goose, whose fur collars justified the price of their luxury parkas, have abandoned it. On the consumer side, the vintage fashion platform Vinted has also banned it.
This disenchantment has had far-reaching consequences for furriers. For a long time, two institutions reigned in Paris: Sprung Frères and Yves Salomon. Sprung announced in January 2024 that it would cease its operations. The family-owned company cited an "absence of candidates to take up the torch in a not very positive context." "The brand is very much focused on fur, and we don't want to change our line of business," said company head Nathan Sprung.
Its competitor Yves Salomon has more or less done the same. Sensing the changing tide, he had already begun to diversify his business in the 2000s by launching parkas in which fur played only an accessory role and accelerated his transition when the Kering group, with which he collaborated, withdrew from fur. "Choice became an obligation," said the man who set about developing a complete wardrobe: reversible down jackets in water-repellent technical fabric, pretty round-neck sweaters, elegant blouses in wool twill, flowing dresses in silk satin and leather cargo pants. It's a chic, sober collection that includes little or no fur. "In 2018, it represented 90% of our sales. In 2023, 30%," said Salomon. "Fur is our history, but not our future."
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