Early last week, I got a text from a friend I’ll call Penny: What’s the read on wearing a fur coat right now? You see, Penny had inherited a gray fox fur coat from her grandmother—and the below-freezing temperatures had her thinking it was time to break it out. I sometimes get looks out in Brooklyn, but nobody bats an eye at me in Manhattan, I replied. At the end of the night, Penny sent me a follow-up outfit pic with the text: I felt perfectly fine wearing it at The Mark.
Fur was a hot topic of conversation throughout New York Fashion Week—and during multiple meetings at the Vogue office. So we all got around to debate it out: Is vintage fur now okay to wear?
Margaux: Hi everybody, thanks for being game to talk about a quite controversial subject. You all know that I have quite the collection of vintage fur—both inherited from my family and purchased through my years of collecting. I wore it throughout NYFW, and real fur is everywhere on the streets. That doesn’t surprise me, it’s warm, and it’s chic, but I know some of you are surprised by its resurgence…
Nicole Phelps, Vogue Runway director: I shouldn’t be surprised, I suppose. I’ve spent my career watching trends come and go, but fur’s return has taken me aback. Maybe it’s all the years of PETA protests I’ve witnessed on the runways? I see young women wearing long vintage furs with their workout clothes and sneakers on the weekends, which, for me, accentuates their “let me eat cake” rejection of the anti-fur movement.
Alyssa Hardy, digital director, Teen Vogue: Most of my fashion friends own vintage fur, but the question has been whether or not to wear it in a high-visibility way. I’ve been entirely plant-based for 20 years and don’t own any fur—it’s not exactly something I feel comfortable wearing given that lifestyle choice. On top of that, no one in my family has ever owned a fur to pass down (which I know is a way people often acquire them).
Photographed by Phil Oh
Photographed by Phil Oh
Alexandra Hildreth, fashion news writer, Vogue Runway: The “mob wife” trend madness really helped break the dam when it came to bringing real fur back into the mainstream. Most of my circle landed on the fact that vintage or second-hand is more sustainable than faux. Now, the topic has come back up not so much as a reopened debate but more of a fascination surrounding the vibe shift in the mainstream conversation: Is faux fur actually sustainable? And more importantly, is the resurgence of fur in fashion a dog whistle for conservatism?