Are they fur real?
Lookin’ like you’re killin’ time livin’ in luxury while your husband’s doin’ time for murder is all the rage, thanks to Gen Z’s “mob wife” aesthetic trend.
And now, “The Sopranos” lovers have hit a new note — high or low, depending on whom you ask — by draping themselves in dead animals.
Celebs from Gen Z to Gen X including Dua Lipa, Khloe Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, Ice Spice and Rihanna have all stepped out in real fur not long ago — despite decades of stigma attached to the practice — and it appears as though influencers are following suit.
While their celeb counterparts may be able to afford the real thing — like Jenner, who wore an enormous Phoebe Philo fur in Aspen last year that retailed for $27,000 — influencers are saving their coins by opting for vintage fur.
Larry Cowit, the president of Madison Avenue Furs, & Henry Cowit, Inc., which is the largest buyer of second-hand furs in the country, said he’s seen an upswing of Gen Z and millennial girls looking for “flashy, very full coats.”
He said the mob wife trend has driven the demand for “long hair furs, fox coats, more voluptuous types of coats that people haven’t been looking for in the past.”
These jackets can range anywhere from $500 to $2,000.
Cowitt said he thinks the younger generation is gravitating toward secondhand fur instead of faux because it “definitely looks and feels nicer” and is more “ethical” than buying a new fur.
Influencers have been modeling their fur looks for clicks on social media.
An Influencer named Kiki who goes by @kikirajxo on TikTok posted a video of herself wearing secondhand fur in January that has garnered more than 300,000 views.
“Clean girl is out. Mob wife era is in, OK?” she said in the voiceover of her video.
“Starbucks and black puffers are out. We’re wearing vintage furs all winter,” Kiki declared over footage of her modeling a brown and then a white vintage fur coat.
Commenters below her video said they loved her look and have been sporting similar jackets.
“I wore my granny’s vintage fur today!! Got so many compliments!” one person wrote.
The Post reached out to Kiki for comment.
Kiki is far from alone. An Italian influencer living in London named Frederica Labanca, 27, posts videos on her TikTok and Instagram accounts, where she goes by frederica.labanca, of herself wearing big fur coats in proper mob wife fashion.
However, she said she only opts for second-hand furs.
“I’ve been wearing my grandma’s vintage coats since I can remember,” she told The Evening Standard.
“I personally am against new fur but find it very sustainable wearing coats passed down from generations to generations. Especially when faux fur coats are made out of plastic,” she added.
However, not everyone is convinced that wearing the real thing, even second-hand, is better than donning an animal-free alternative.
A TikToker named Ida Giancola, who goes by @dionysian.girl on the platform, posted a video of herself wearing a $600 vintage fur that’s gained nearly 500,000 views. She got some hate in her comments section from people saying real fur is unethical, even if it’s second-hand.
“It’s sad how they kill animals for those jackets,” said one commenter.
“Animals lives are NOT worth this tacky jacket,” Iveta wrote.
The resurgence of real fur, both retail and second-hand, comes after scores of designers have decided to remove fur from their collections entirely due to ethical and environmental concerns.
Designers including Stella McCartney, Calin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Giorgio Armani, Michael Kors, Gucci, Change, Coach, Chloe, Bottega Veneta, Burberry and Versace are all fur-free now, to name a few. Brands like Fendi and Louis Vuitton still sell real fur.
And faux fur retailers aren’t convinced that fake options are out, or that they’re less sustainable than the real thing.
Amelie Brick, CEO of faux fur company Apparis, said that she’s seen an increase in demand for mob wife-style coats.
“Customers are requesting big, dramatic silhouettes,” Brick explained to The Post. Department stores are heeding the call, and Brick said Apparis’ new faux-mink style coat was picked up by major retailers in the U.S. and Europe.
“Our society has made tons of progress over the past 10 years in ending the killing of innocent animals for their furs. Many brands and stores have stopped selling fur in favor of ethical alternatives like our coats,” Brick said.
“Second-hand fur might be currently trending with Gen-Zs, but it’s not disrupting our core mission of creating animal-free fashion. Our faux-fur coats are made of recycled materials, which in our opinion is the most conscious alternative to real fur,” she added.
The Post reached out to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which has been outspoken about wearing real fur, for comment.