Marc Jacobs' 'faux fur' garments actually use the coats of Chinese canines

[onehandle]

Source: NY Daily News



It's a faux fur fakeout — Marc Jacobs jackets being sold at Century 21 department stores actually contain dog hair.

Even if the labels say otherwise, the “faux fur” garments sold by the retailer are made with the fur of cuddly Chinese raccoon dogs, a breed that’s often skinned alive for its soft coat.

Tests arranged as part of an undercover probe by the Humane Society and state Assembly member Linda Rosenthal (D-Manhattan) identified various items hawked by Century 21 as containing real canine fur, disgusted shoppers found out Thursday.

“I think that’s horrible, because I don’t believe in wearing real fur,” snapped tourist Kayla East, 23, of Toronto, as she shopped Thursday at Century 21’s popular lower Manhattan outlet. “I would really be upset if I purchased something that said it was fake, and it was real.”

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/fashion/century-21-selling-real-fur-faux-humane-society-article-1.1282382

---

Cue someone to defend Chinese 'culture' for its 'different values.'

Of course, Marc Jacobs is just feeding cruelty.

[jtuck004]

1. Sounds like JC Penney's again. n/t

[ZombieHorde]

2. "Cue someone to defend Chinese 'culture' for its 'different values.'"

OK. Their culture is fine and they have different values. Happy now?

eta: this is a joke, the thought of skinning dog alive is horrifying to me

[booley]

6. It's simple capitalistic greed

This has nothing to do with Chinese values or the lack there of you implied. Pretty sure Chinese culture considers fraud in the same poor light we do here in the west.

This happened because someone thought it cheaper and easier to use real fur they already had and lie about it's origin. In the short term they were even correct. And the guys who did that in this case happened to be from China

It's no more inherently "chinese" then the horse meat thing was inherently European or e-coli poisoning is due to a flaw in the American culture.

So could we maybe concentrate on the problem and leave the subtle anti-chinese prejudice behind?

[ZombieHorde]

9. I'm not anti-Chinese. I'm against skinning animals alive.

I don't think skinning animals alive is a Chinese thing.

[booley]

18. as am I

and I can say that without implying there this has something to do with chinese culture

[ZombieHorde]

21. I was just making a joke from the OP. nt

[aquart]

45. Then you never had a dinner of live monkey brains.

Great delicacy. A bit traumatizing for the western buyer who was given the treat.

[alp227]

46. I bet the same shit happens worldwide.

Can't say live shining is only a Chinese thing. Humans have hunted animals for fur for millennia.

[bettyellen]

13. most Chinese suppliers will slap any label on anything if they think they can get away with it

cashmere is more frequently yak, blended fabrics sold as cotton all the time, corn syrup for honey.
they know that most american businesses have scaled back or eliminated QA programs and routine testing doesn't happen anymore in the USA. the cashmere they send to the Italian market is real because they know they will test the DNA with some frequency. very few American companies stay on top of these things like they used to. quality took back seat to price a long time ago.

i'm sure we do it too, it's just we're not manufacturing as much as they are.

[Hekate]

26. IMO, very few American companies EVER stayed on top of their Chinese suppliers

It costs money to do so. You have to send trustworthy and knowledgeable Americans to do the job -- they have to be able to speak and read Chinese, and they have to understand the ethos there. This costs money and takes time, something our greedheads are not interested in investing so far away.

Color me absolutely disgusted with American companies that do business with China, and never care about how the product came to be.

Postscript: Years ago there were cute little toys that looked like kitties, and they were made of real fur. Nobody asked what kind of fur until American consumers who were allergic to cats started sneezing and wheezing. Yep. They were made of real catskins.

[bettyellen]

27. before China was involved, clothing and home goods companies had serious QA and testing in place

in the 80's, it was still a thing. and it just got a lot harder to do at a time when everything became about price.
the American consumer pays less than anyone in the world, they are just unwilling to- we want quantity!!!- and they push the fact that their stuff is made for slave wages to the back of their heads. it's a very tough business model to break out of.

[Duppers]

44. booley, have you spent time in China?

Last edited Sat Mar 9, 2013, 04:48 AM - Edit history (1)

Do you know the culture?


Yes, I've spent some time in China and traveled the country. I like the Chinese people for the most part, but their insensitivity to animals got to me.

For instances:
http://gawker.com/5976131/hundreds-of-cats-being-shipped-to-restaurants-in-china-saved-from-slaughter-thanks-to-traffic-accident

[L0oniX]

3. Well it's a waste to throw away the fur ...after they eat a dog or cat. n/t

[panzerfaust]

49. ... (caution)

"Waste not, Want not."

[Bluenorthwest]

4. Marc Jacobs is a Chinese name?

As an American, the fact than an American is buying these and putting his name on them makes me wonder about our culture as well. Don't you think that profiting from dogs skinned alive is a tad harsh on Marc's part?

[demwing]

5. No Funny Ever

Got it?

[SCVDem]

7. Hey PETA!

Where are ya?

This is an issue where you could get support unlike so many of your causes.

[bettyellen]

10. soul terror? that kid is a deluded stalker for fucks sake.

[noiretextatique]

11. someone gave me a marc jacobs jacket

it had fox fur, which i cut off. off to the trash it goes.

[Blandocyte]

12. Yikes. But how do they know the dog is "skinned alive"?

Snopes mentions reports of St. Bernards being "skinned alive" and used for food in China (they mention that the supposed reason for the supposed practice was that adrenalin supposedly makes a difference in the taste of the meat), but also says that facts are difficult to find regarding what goes on in China.

I find the idea sooo abhorrent that I don't want it to be true, so am hoping I can find out that it's not. Does anyone know the source of the "skinning alive" report?

On edit: Did some more web-digging. Apparently the org, Swiss Animal Protection, shot some video of some workers skinning the animals alive. I haven't been able to find the vid, but this sounds as horrible as it sounds.

[RILib]

16. I saw a video of that

or at least as much as I could stand to watch, some years ago.

I don't want to get into culture wars here, as plenty of terrible stuff happens in the US, but the slaughter of endangered animals for "aphrodisiac" body parts, shark fin soup, there's just something endemically wrong over there.

[TinkerTot55]

36. I too, accidentally, watched the skinning alive video....

on the PETA website, which website also sells fantastic live-trap mousetraps.
The site of the horrific practice was in an Eastern European country, so NO, it's not a practice unique to China.
Maybe it's a practice in poorer countries, that don't have laws about humane treatment of animals.
But it's definitely a practice which must stop.

[Agschmid]

42. Gonna stay away from that video. n/t

[Quantess]

48. I saw a video of it, too.

It's very horrific.

[AlbertCat]

14. How do you skin an animal alive?

Heavily sedated?

And how can one not tell faux fur from real fur? One "grows" off a fabric (usually knitted) base and one grows from leather.


I mean, there's no reason to use real fur these days.... faux furs are really good now.... but faux fur is never so close to real that feeling it and looking close at it doesn't give it away.

It "contains" dog hair. Could that mean the dogs were shaved (like a sheep) and the fibers used to create "fur"? Can a pelt just "contain" hair?

I'm just asking questions....

[AndyA]

17. I've seen a video of animals being skinned alive

It was very disturbing, and bothered me for days.

In the instance I saw, the animal had been beaten horribly until it was no longer able to fight, then skinned alive and tossed aside to die. The look on its face, the horror in its eyes was very upsetting. It's been years since I saw that video, and I couldn't watch more than just a few seconds, but what I saw was enough that it left a very horrible memory.

To say it was inhumane and cruel is truly an understatement.

[AlbertCat]

22. It was very disturbing,

Just reading your account of it is! And it's obviously some stupid unnecessary "tradition" .... "The fur will be softer if the animal is skinned alive.".... or some such old-timer BS. I'm positive if one humanely killed the animal and skinned the carcass right away you'd get the same result.

Furs used to be a great way to keep warm.... and of course let's face it, they were beautiful! But nowadays it is just simply unnecessary to use real fur.

[onehandle]

20. Some people think animals are shaved. No, they need the skin to hold the fur.

That's why they call it 'skinning.'

Imagine your scalp being removed with a knife to contain the hair.

Imagine.

[AlbertCat]

24. No, they need the skin to hold the fur.

I used to make costume for film and theatre so I KNOW that. I can't tell you how many old fur coats I've cut up to make trims and collars for period clothes!

That's why "containing" was a confusing term to me. And as I said.... fake fur is on a knitted base, and real fur on leather. That's why I can't believe anyone was fooled... and I was therefore asking questions.


I would also remind people who are up in arms about fur to remember their leather coats and shoes are just fur sans the fur! Of course most leathers don't come from exotic animals

[onehandle]

25. Yeah, and the fake fur that's attached to the knitted base has the luxury of artificial length.

So it can be looped and woven solidly together.

[whathehell]

15. Fucking monsters -- all concerned.

and, no, I don't think skinning an animal alive is a "cultural trait", if that's what it is,

that merits respect.

[ilvxnk]

23. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmvGdr7RWKw

this is how they harvest the fur.....

[azurnoir]

29. welcome to DU

but can I make a request? Could you switch your title and message body? youtube videos will automatically imbed here and comeup as such, if you want to make sure click preview before posting it might take a few seconds but the video will come up thanks

welcome once again

[petronius]

35. Welcome to DU! That is a truly horrifying (and gruesome video) - maybe add a little text

to your post warning folks that if they do watch it may be upsetting and not for the squeamish? (Thanks for avoiding the embedding, by the way.)

That said, I agree with Tim Gunn here: people really do need to try and know - and consider and take responsibility for - where their products come from and what sorts of conditions, impacts, activities, etc exist all the way up the chain...

[uppityperson]

43. GRAPHIC video. Would you please add that to your post? Thanks.

ETA, people need to know where furs they buy come from, as well as food they eat and other products they purchase no matter what or the source. I visited a fox farm in AK yrs back, it was not as bad as the one in your vid, but was appalling nevertheless.

[Sunlei]

28. The 'trim' like the stuff around a hood/cuffs is not covered by any 'truth in the tag' regulations

[Evasporque]

30. china dog fur all rage

wear now

[tblue]

31. Please tell us how to publicly hate them.

I'm serious. I want them to know. I want the world to know.

[Hekate]

33. You mean like avoiding racist tags like Yellow Peril? Here's my method:

What you want to do is criticize -- even excoriate and abominate -- behavior and the results of that behavior. That is what I focus on. That it originates in the context and confluence of both American culture and Chinese culture is important, and it means that there is plenty of blame to go around, but in order for criticism to lead to change it has to be talked about in a useful and meaningful way.

American culture is divided into different parts by class, though we don't like to think of it that way. We were at one time accustomed to consumer protection laws that actually meant something, i.e., safe food, non-flammable pajamas, and the like. That is past, but most people have not yet absorbed that. But that expectation remains and that ignorance spreads out globally, causing people to imagine that all countries that we do business with surely must have, for instance, food safety laws that are actually enforced. (Imagine our surprise when our pets started dropping dead because of poisoned pet food ingredients from China.)

The consumer class wants a good bargain, and the lower down the scale they are, the more they need it. Consumers, by and large, no matter their income, just imagine all is well until it manifestly is not. And they get distracted by the next shiny thing on tv.

We also imagine that US companies that do business abroad are careful. Imagine our surprise when that turns out not to be the case.

Which brings me to the corporate class in the US. Their rapacity and greed know no bounds. The only boundaries they accept are strictly enforced legal ones, and since Reagan came to office those have become fewer and fewer. We have significant problems with that here at home, as any DUer knows.

Now China. People in the US (in their blissful ignorance) are accustomed to thinking of China as a Communist country with a collective mentality. Americans don't know exactly what that means but no matter. What people fail to grasp is that people in different cultures think differently. China is very, very old, and they rightfully look on us as upstart pups, if I may be so colloquial. They don't crave to be like us in any significant degree. In all their long history there have been only a few really great changes in the way they do things, and the Revolution was one of them.

But it's interesting about that -- the Revolutionaries tried, in their idealism, to make the basic unit of society the State. But the basic unit of Chinese society has always been, and remains, the family, the people you are directly related to. Westerners make much of the individual, but not so the Chinese. Americans make much of loyalty to Country, and in theory so do Chinese, but the real loyalty, as far as I can tell, remains family. The Communist Party replaced the Emperor and wields great power; they still have a civil service system just as for centuries before; there are still plenty of peasants and others of low degree; and there is still the merchant class, suppressed by the Communists, but never ever eradicated.

And I think their merchant class has a lot in common with ours, except that so much of it takes place at much lower levels, where every penny saved is a multiplier benefitting someone's family. Damn -- that was the thing about the poisoned pet food (and inside China, poisoned baby formula). All along the way someone was squeezing pennies out of the cost of manufacturing.

I hope you can see where I am coming from. The situation outrages me, too. But because I am not a racist and do not want to become one, I really do try to parse out how this came to be and go from there in looking for ways to fix it. From my point of view, the place we have to start is HERE. Oh, we can get our diplomats to lean on their diplomats, and our president can toast theirs with Maotai at tough trade negotiations. But the real problem, as I see it, is our very own rapacious and unregulated "merchant class" and our very own blindingly ignorant American people.

Thanks for asking.

[Politicub]

40. American demand is the problem

It starts with us. If anything good comes from this it will be that faux fur is faux fur. Period.

And then there's the global market.

[surrealAmerican]

32. Why would this be less expensive?

There have been a few other reports of "faux" fur from china turning out to be from wild animals too, but why? Is the real fake thing that costly to produce?


Also, raccoon dogs are not exactly "dogs". They are wild animals about as closely related to domesticated dogs as foxes (same family, different species).

[Sunlei]

34. faux takes a factory to produce, the other you pay a peon a dime for enough to trim 5 coats.

[Trascoli]

37. Many people like to jump on America

but China does it far worse

[Politicub]

38. So it's cheaper to skin dogs alive than make plastic faux fur

Who knows how long this has been happening? I love dogs and this is heartbreaking. The volume of faux fur shipped must be massive.

[Hekate]

39. Well yeah. Plastic is a non-renewable resource, and dogs...

well, you know.

>sigh< Read my other post.

[Ken Burch]

41. How does "Cruella De Ville" translate into Mandarin?