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A nascent movement to outlaw fur seeks to make its biggest statement to date in the mecca of New York fashion.
Lawmakers are pushing for a ban on the sale of all new fur products in the city where they once used to be, and where stylists, including Marilyn Monroe, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Joe Namath and Sean Diddy Combs, have all shaken fur in Canada. over the years.
A similar measure at the State Capitol in Albany would impose a ban on the sale of any article made with animal fur and would prohibit the manufacture of products made from trapped fur.
Whether it's good or bad depends on which side of the skin you are on. Members of the fur industry believe that such bans could put 1,100 people out of work in the city alone. Supporters reject this and point out that the wearing of fur is barbaric and inhumane.
Cruelty should not be confused with economic development, said Assembly member Linda Rosenthal, Democrat of Manhattan, who is sponsoring state legislation. Fur is based on violence against innocent animals. It should not be a case.
The fate of these proposals could be decided in the coming months, even though supporters acknowledge that the measure taken in New York City has a better chance of passing than state legislation.
The fur trade is considered so important for the development of the state of New York that two beavers adorn the official seal of the city, a reference to the early Dutch and English settlers who traded beaver pelts.
At the height of the fur trade in the last century, New York City manufactured 80 fur coats made in the United States, according to FUR NYC, a group representing 130 retailers and manufacturers in the city. The group says New York City remains the country's largest fur market, with real fur still frequently used as a trim on coats, jackets and other items.
If passed, New York would become the third largest US city banned, after San Francisco, where the ban takes effect this year, and Los Angeles, where a ban passed this year will come into effect in 2021.
Elsewhere, Sao Paulo, Brazil, began banning the import and sale of fur in 2015. Fur farming was banned in the UK almost 20 years ago. Last year, London Fashion Week became the first major fashion event to have free.
Fur industry leaders warn that if the ban is passed in New York, emboldened animal rights advocates will want more.
Everyone is watching this, "said Nancy Daigneault, vice president of the International Fur Federation, a London-based industry group. If it starts here with fur, it'll go to wool, leather, meat.
When asked what a fur ban would mean for him, Nick Pologeorgis was outspoken: I am bankrupt.
The father of Pologeorgis, who emigrated from Greece, started creating and selling fur in the Fur district of the city almost 60 years ago.
My employees are nervous, he said. If you are 55 or 50 and all you have learned to do is to be a fur worker, what are you going to do?
Proponents of the ban claim that these employees could find work that does not concern animal fur, noting that an increasing number of fashion designers and retailers are now refusing to sell fur and that substitutes synthetic are just as convincing as reality.
They also argue that retailers and fur manufacturers represent only a small fraction of the approximately 180,000 people working in the urban fashion sector and that their skills can be easily transferred.
The development of ethical and environmentally friendly materials leaves plenty of room for job growth, said City Council President Corey Johnson, who presented the city's metric.
New Yorkers asked about the ban this week on both sides, wondering if a law was really necessary.
It's a matter of personal choice. I do not think it's something that needs to be legislated, "said Janet Thompson, 44. Many people wear leather, suede and other animal skins. Picking up fur seems a bit one way.
Joshua Katcher, a Manhattan designer and author who has taught at the Parsons School of Design, believes that the proposed bans reflect an increased desire to know where our products come from and want them to be ethical and sustainable. .
Fur is a relic, he said.
Klepper reported from Albany, New York.
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