Through the long history of human attire, so many living creatures have fallen prey to the cruel game of fashion. Fur coats, leather garments, feather decorations, all used for purposes of status/hierarchy, attraction/sexuality and less importantly for covering up/protecting the nude body.
As seen in the V&A exhibition in London ‘Fashioned from Nature’ the cruelty of humans towards the animals, had been expressed in so many elaborate ways. Men’s hats made from beaver fur, fans carved from Ivory, sealskin jackets, jewelled beetles decoration, entire exotic stuffed birds used in ladies hats, ermine muffs, monkey fur capes, tortoise shell buttons, whalebone under structures, crocodile bags, all exhibits of the unnecessary killings of animals in the name of human vanity.
Nowadays with the rising awareness about the vitality of protecting the environment, fashion designers are one by one denouncing the use of fur and are gearing their designs to eco friendly materials.
But ecology cannot be just fashionable and after a few seasons, be rejected like a passing trend! Ecology must become a state of mind, an uncompromising value, an obligation to the coming generations, a vital necessity like breathing!
Our planet is screaming for attention, our seas are drenched with plastic waste, our forests are rapidly becoming extinct, the climate changes are ever so evident.
We cannot afford to embrace ecology as a fashion trend, we all desperately need to focus, face the problem and take action while we still can.
