Disobedient objects – Protest Against Animal Cruelty in the Fashion

World

By Hayley Flecknell

Primary research The exhibition

My idea for the Disobedient objects – protest against animal cruelty

Even though it as nothing to do with actual animals but I like the way how it questions the viewer about sexism and racism as they are a feminism group.

So what I want to do is create something like this but turn it into something about animal cruelty as fur is consider as a beautiful and luxurious items but yet it has a very dark truths behind it.

Anti-Fur Movement • It was a popular culture and started in the 80’s – 90’s• It began in the 70’s with an anti sealing campaign • Brigitte Bardot was heavily involved with the anti sealing

campaign she went to Northern Canada to protest at the seal hunts.

• It then expanded to focus on all of the animal issues • Many celebrities have involved by anti-fur politics and anti

fur campaigns • Many groups began in the 80’s • Companies such as PETA and LYNX use shock value like

naked women gory photos, and foul language• Theses Ads were popular in the 80’s and 90’s

LYNX• A British company called Lynx used mass media to bring the movement

to the popular culture and there Ads and videos had a huge impact and targeted the upper class women. These Ads were to shock and make wearing fur morally wrong.

• Lynx used slogans like “It takes up to 40 dumb animals to make a fur coat. But only one to wear it.”

Greenpeace International• Greenpeace International started in the 1984. There campaigns were

going to be aggressive media. This was to try to guilt the people who worn fur. But this campaign had a effect for the local trappers of Northern Canada so it got cancelled.

PETA• Founded in 1980• People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) • PETA have been often criticized about the concern

with the press coverage and that its not focused enough on the radical action

• There campaigns are always controversial and well known

• Most of the Ads of the celebrities have there bodies exposed to protest about wearing fur.

• This has attracted not only anti-fur enthusiasts but pop-cultures followers too

What animals are used for fashion

Fur:• Beavers• Chinchillas • Dogs and Cats• Foxes• Minks• Rabbits• Raccoons• Seals• Bears• Tigers

Leather: • Cows • Pigs • Goats • Sheep• exotic animals like

as alligators, ostriches, and kangaroos

Wool • Sheep• Lambs

Down Feather Industry:• Ducks • Geese

Other • Silkworms - silk• Goat hair –

Cashmere• Sheep and

lambs - Shearling• Karakul Lamb

Fur• Vicuña – wool

(related to camels and llamas)

• Alpaca – wool• Shahtoosh -

endangered Tibetan antelope, or chiru

• Alexander Wang• Altuzarra• Arthur Galan• Balenciaga• Burberry• Chloe• Karl Lagerfeld• Lisa Ho• Louis Vuitton• Marc Jacobs• Marni• Roberto Cavalli• Valentino• Yves Saint Laurent

• Dior• Fendi• Giambattista Valli• Gucci• Hermes• J. Mendel

Designers who use fur

These are the many designers that still use fur

Julien McDonald Controversy• In his designs he used chinchilla, sable, fox and mink. • He told the independent in February 2006 that "Whatever

they do I'm not going to stop using fur,". "If I stop using fur in my collection I might as well close my business down”.

• He carried on saying that "Almost 60 per cent of my business is catered for the Russian market and my biggest sales are fur. Russian women demand fur coats and they won't wear anything else because it's so cold and they want to look fashionable.“

• In February 2007, when he claimed that "People who don't like fur can piss off. I love fur. It's a beautiful natural product from animals.“

• A spokesman for Peta said: "Heartless greedy designers like Julien Macdonald may not care about electrocuting animals and ripping off their fur for fashion, but decent compassionate people do. Millions of animals suffer on fur farms and in steel traps in the wild. The cruelty of the pelt pushers must end."

News articles on daily mail about the outbreak of PETA exposing Angora fur abuse - November 2013

Animal cruelty protests

TopshopThis was a campaign that Top Shop and PETA and displayed in the window of the Oxford Circus flagship store. This display was to tell customers not to have the wildlife in your wardrobe. Also it was to put the message across that exotic animal skins like crocodile, python and lizard are often collected and then painful and unethical methods are used on them.

Celebrity campaigns These are some of the celebrities that have done Ads for anti – fur campaigns

Khloe Kardashian fur coat spray paintOn the 17th February she made herself in a walking advertisement in New York. Which she wore a Faux fur coat with "F--k Yo Fur“ sprayed on the back. The same day she also tweeted "F--k Yo Fur!!! Fake fur all day, people!!.She as also worked with PETA and has said that "I am done with fur forever and I have now found so many amazing faux fur lines that are great alternatives for women who love the look and love animals.“ However this act was not part of PETA as she has left the company due to an attack on her sister by PETA as Kim wears real fur.

Development of dress

This is the making of the dress

WARNING: The next slide has images of animal abuse.

• get a feel of fur slam your fingers in the car door• who died for your coat• wake up to the horror• there is nothing glamourous or fashionable about fur• ten million cats and dogs are slaughter for there fur• keep the wild out of your wardrobe • fur is cruel

• over 50 million animals are killed annually for fur worldwide.• brutal and cruel slaughter, animals often skinned alive to preserve pelts.• about 10 million wild animals are caught for fur using cruel and inhumane

traps.• china, the world’s biggest fur exporter, has no animal welfare laws

whatsoever.• china as no penalties for animal cruelty• in Asia, domestic cats and dogs are kidnapped to satisfy demand for fur.• cat and dog fur often mislabelled as rabbit, with no species specified at all• nearly 500,000 python skins are exported from south-east Asia each year.

Facts and slogans that I used

• cruelty at slaughter is a huge concern ' “ some receive a blow to the head with a hammer or mallet, some are decapitated, whilst many are filled with air or water and hung from hooks before being skinned alive.

• Indonesia and Malaysia are the main source of pythons for the skin trade.• Because rabbits are prey animals, they become terrified very easily and fear

being picked up, and they are prone to heart attacks in stressful situations

• At PETA Asia undercover investigator found rabbits screaming in pain and terror as workers ripped the fur out of their skin.

• Angora rabbits are highly social animals and they slowly go insane as they are put into fifthly small cages.

• Angora rabbits are first sheared or plucked when they are just 8 weeks old

• Female rabbits produce more wool than do males, so on larger farms, male rabbits who are not destined to be breeders are killed at birth. they could be considered the “lucky” ones.

• After two to five years, rabbits who have survived this repeated abuse are hung upside down, their throats are slit, and their bodies are sold for meat.

My dress completed

Finished poster

Wake Up To The HorrorOver 50 million animals are killed

annually for fur worldwide.

Fur’s Cruel The finished poster I created, this dress as a statement on using fur. I intend to use this as a protest in street with the model dressed in this way and parading down the street quite snobby with a sense of heirs and grace. I aim this towards fashion designers and the abusers who insisting of using fur and making the fur. I have used facts and slogans statements in the pieces so that its eye catching so that people in the streets can see the shocking truths of fashion. The safety pins is a relation to punk as they are easy to get hold of and its also like the safety pins are abusing the images but that wasn’t intended.