Fur Is Fading. The Desire Isn't.

The tragedy of society starts with refusing to settle with the attainable.

Although fur remains one of the most harmful animal-based industries, being able to obtain the fur from the rarest animal became a marker of status which translated into "I searched for the most expensive, the rarest, the most unattainable, I got it, and I look great."

Although we cannot ignore the efficiency factor of fur in extremely cold climates; this was rarely the case elsewhere. In our grandparents’ time, fur had a completely different meaning from now. Even seeing an animal's face on fur meant glam, not a nightmare. I remember seeing such a scarf on an acquaintance for the first time; she had wrapped a raccoon's pelt around herself, and its face was THERE, looking at me. Chills.

Image: Givenchy, Haute Couture, Fall-Winter 1988/89 Collection

Now, I also think about the Turkish proverb I've known since childhood: "The fox always returns to the furrier’s store", it is such an internalized indifference, isn’t it?

To examine this desire, we must confront an uncomfortable truth: We love fur. But over the years, we began to realize that we love the fantasy it evokes: Status, glamour, self-confidence, social currency, and the desire to find the inaccessible.

While the fur aesthetic represented our weaknesses and desires emerging from it, the material also caused us to carry the curse of a horrific industrialized animal death that we unfortunately ignored as a society. Ignoring the darkness behind the feeling of fur could only be possible up to a point.

The truth of this industry is already obvious, animal slaughter. Still, it took a very long time for the reality to be acknowledged. Along the way, production practices became even more ruthless and wasteful.

There is no plot twist here: Since the 90s, brands such as Ralph Lauren, Gucci and organizations such as PETA took action, and new regulations have developed against real fur.

Across series and films, fur was framed in duality; intoxicating in glamour, yet ethically fraught. A true forbidden love of the fashion narrative. In The Nanny - Fran Fine, who inherited a fur coat from her aunt, a piece she was undeniably seduced by, yet often resisted wearing in an effort to set the right example. Elsewhere on screen, fur lingered as an object of desire shadowed by guilt, much like the one Phoebe from Friends couldn’t quite let go of despite her tender conscience.

Image: Sex and the City (Season 6, Episode 5)

At the fur industry’s 2014 peak, 140 million animals were being killed a year; in 2023, that number was roughly seven times lower. In 2018, there were 4,350 fur farms in the EU, falling to 1088 in 2023.

Besides data, let’s go back the pleasure of the unattainable. This is the unchanging perception and image of fur – whatever the material. Fur has always been about appearance and feeling.

These codes are deeply tied to positive cognitive associations, encouraging the satisfaction of who we are. Whether accurate or illusory, also ensures that fur is here to stay in fashion. Of course, as our brains do in every negative reality, we also ignore the suffering of animals or nature.

That doesn’t mean it needs to be real, animal fur. As highlighted, we love the association, and we get more and more informed, the appeal of real fur has decreased significantly considering the morality of it, also proved via runway and trend data:

The fur aesthetic re-emerged across the 2025 runways as an extension of the “mob wife” and broader maximalist aesthetics circulating social media.

Image: "Mob Wife" Aesthetic by BoF 

There is also a strange irony in how fur’s glory often peaks during periods of financial uncertainty. It is as if we use its volume to mask our vulnerabilities; when the world feels small, our silhouettes go 'extra.' This peaked the faux fur movement: a way to satisfy that hunger for excess while remaining grounded in economic reality.

According to WGSN, faux fur outerwear increased to 30% on the FW25 catwalks, with #FauxFur surged 156%. Meanwhile, the popularity of vintage fur is also on the rise by 688%, between 2023 and 2025 Google searches. (Trendalytics)

These alternatives gave birth to new arguments: When we replace fur with faux fur mostly created with polyester-based materials, are we really doing nature a favor? In addition to it, there are so many collections, including designer ones, where polyester is dominant, so why does only faux fur have to be the culprit here?

Those who satisfy this desire in the healthiest way are those who redefine fur with bio-materials, such as Stella McCartney and Biofluff. However, the system does what it always does with every new and relatively useful technology for nature, “finds it too expensive.”

Image: Stella McCartney, Fur Free Fur

Beyond the aesthetic appeal, deeper questions arise regarding the true cost of this spectacle.

Perhaps fur was never just about warmth, but about longing: For status and self-mythology. While the material evolves, the psychology behind it remains untouched.

The fashion industry’s true responsibility is to satisfy this human instinct not through destruction, but by investing in innovations that protect nature and animals alike.