Rosita Boland bites back at the animal rights activists who stand between her and that lovely rabbit-fur jacket.
Two weeks ago, I wandered into Zara on Dublin's Henry Street. I had been on the lookout for the black jacket. You know the way it is: you're looking out for a particular item of clothing, not quite sure what it is, but certain you'll find it eventually. In Zara that day, I spied a short, black rabbit-furjacket (clear from the label that it was rabbit fur). I tried it on instantly. I loved it, but I put it back. Fur issues? Frankly, no. I was worried that it wouldn't stand up to the rain, and at the price - €229 - I wanted something I could wear in all weathers.
I went home and later decided I that It was the jacket. I had to have it: beautifully cut and finished, warm, sleek and tactile all in one. And rabbits are outdoor creatures, so if the fur jacket got wet, I reasoned, it surely wasn't going to fall apart as a result.
Back I cantered to Zara. No fur jackets to be seen! Sold out? Cursing my previous dithering, I asked an assistant if there were any left. She told me all stock of rabbit-fur jackets had been sent back to headquarters in Spain, due to action by animal rights protesters. And no, there was no way one could be ordered.
I was extremely annoyed. I am unimpressed by pressure groups dictating to me by proxy, and to shops directly, what I can and cannot buy. If I don't have a problem buying and wearing a rabbit-fur jacket - or indeed, a vintage jacket of Persian lambskin I found secondhand years ago for £10 in a London market - surely that's my personal business, not anyone else's? Animal rights protesters appear to think they have the right to bully designers, buyers and consumers alike into accepting their viewpoint, and their viewpoint only.
Fur presses buttons like nothing else in the fashion industry. Take Zara. This autumn, it stocked jackets and wraps made from rabbit fur, as well as various items trimmed with rabbit fur. There are 2,064 Zara stores in 52 countries. A concerted international campaign by anti-fur activists was launched against Zara, with organised protests planned outside the stores (including Dublin) for a day in late September. Public protests outside shops, are of course, very bad publicity for those outlets. Three days before the protest, on September 22nd, fur products were withdrawn from all but six of the countries Zara trades in.
José María Castellano Ríos, Zara's deputy chairman and CEO, in a statement about what he termed "the rabbit issue", said the remaining stock of rabbit-fur items would be sold in Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Mexico and Venezuela until stocks ran out, and never again in any of their stores after December 31st, 2004. "We understand that our customers are more and more aware of this kind of matter each day and wish to reflect their concerns in our practices."
It would perhaps be more accurate - but very un-PC - to suggest that it's not the customers, but the anti-fur activists who are "more and more aware of this kind of matter each day". The Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade (CAFT) helped organise the day of protest against Zara, and states on the British section of its website, www.caft.org.uk, the chain's subsequent withdrawal of fur products followed "an international campaign by anti-fur activists".
For the record, in a statement, Brown Thomas says it "always responds to key fashion trends and corresponding customer demands. In the case of fur-related merchandise, all are by-products of the food chain, i.e. sheepskin, rabbit and goat".
CAFT's Irish wing is the Alliance for Animal Rights Dublin. Spokesperson Bernie Wright confirmed it had lobbied Zara in Dublin. "We're only starting our anti-fur campaign now," says Wright, explaining that the organisation has 30 active members, some of whom regularly check Irish shops for fur products. "You can usually get them removed by sending them a letter and saying you'll be outside the shop on a certain date, leafleting customers."
Of Barnardo's, the furriers that have been in College Green since 1812, she says: "It's a bit of a waste of time protesting outside that shop. We tend to go for easier targets: shops that only have a few fur products."
The Alliance for Animal Rights Dublin says it is used to being tackled over human rights: does the group not think its energy would be better spent protesting for human rights, rather than animal rights? They don't, actually, which seems to be a strange skew of priorities from the viewpoint of this writer. CAFT wouldn't agree with me, but my spare emotional energy goes into worrying about the welfare and fate of human beings rather than mere animals - and they are mere animals.
And by the way, I did get my rabbit-fur jacket in the end. A friend picked one up for me in a Zara store in Barcelona - and it was €50 cheaper.