Last night Tom Ford revealed his latest womenswear collection at New York Fashion Week. With Zayn Malik, Julianne Moore, and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley on the front row plus champagne practically on tap, the collection was as equally glamourous with plenty of sequins and crystal embellished fabrics. There were also plenty of fuzzy coats, however this season many of them were faux fur, the direct result of Ford's new dietary habits.
Speaking to WWD earlier this week, Ford revealed that he is now vegan and this has had a knock-on effect on this thoughts of using fur in his collections.
'I’ve been vegan for about the last year,' he said. 'When you look at how most of our meat, our animal products, are raised, from a health standpoint, I didn’t feel that I should eat those things anymore. The fur thing – of course, is a natural thing. [Going vegan] starts to make you question that. I have started using much more fake fur. I’m not yet ready to say that I’m fur-free. Now, however, I have limited the fur in these collections and going forward to food by-products, which does not sound very sexy. “I’m selling you a food by-product!” That means cowhide, it means shearling, it means not doing fur that is raised purely for its pelt.'
Ford continued clarifying that he hasn't used any mink or fox fur this season, instead he's opted for faux alternatives. However, the designer explained he's also not totally comfortable with using synthetic fur either explaining it has an impact on the environment too. 'People think of fake fur as a disposable thing. They buy it, they wear it a few seasons, they throw it away, it doesn’t biodegrade. It’s a petroleum product. It is highly toxic.'
"I've been very honest, and it's probably going to get me in all sorts of trouble with everybody, but I don't know the answer," he concluded.
