In the 1980s the fur industry was brought to its knees by the anti-fur lobby. But now fur is back on the catwalks, in the magazines and on the high street. Today around 400 designers use fur, compared with only 45 in 1985. The global fur industry is now worth around £7billion a year.
In Kill it, Skin it, Wear it chef Merrilees Parker (pictured) attempts to find out the truth behind this remarkable fashion revival. She goes on a journey to discover if it's possible to source ethical fur as we source ethical food. She gains access to a Danish fur farm, goes fur trapping in Idaho and sees images of animal suffering that she never wants to see again.
Beginning her journey in Denmark, Merrilees is invited to film inside a mink farm. Accompanied throughout by two PR minders, Merrilees is initially impressed by the seemingly "humane, soundless and bloodless" way in which the mink are killed and processed. But is it really the case that this is the standard method? Or is it all a PR job?
Back in London, Merrilees meets Mark Glover, the director of Respect for Animals. He shows her a very different side of the story. As she watches shocking and graphic footage of animals in suffering as they are kept and killed for fur, Merrilees is moved to tears. And the images continue to haunt her as she wonders whether any of the celebrities pictured wearing fur in magazines would do so if they had seen what she has seen.
But is there still a middle ground where animals can spend their time in the wild before they're killed? To find out, Merrilees' journey finally takes her fur-trapping in the wild with retired Vietnam-sniper Johnny Wisenhurst. Together, they trap and skin a beaver. "If I was ever going to wear fur it would be that kind of animal that I'd feel comfortable wearing," says Merrilees.
The chef returns to Denmark to a huge fur warehouse, from which many designers source their fur, to see whether she can trace the trapped fur which makes up around 20 per cent of the market. She is horrified to discover that, "There are loads of guarantees on the quality of pelts, but virtually no guarantees on good welfare practices."
So, is it ever really possible to wear fur without a guilty conscience? And will Merrilees ever wear fur again?
