Marc Jacobs is a Real Life Cruella DeVil

Last March, the Humane Society revealed that Marc Jacobs is using dog fur in his “faux fur” jackets.  It is a state law in New York to label fur as being real or fake, and the country of origin of the garment.  The Humane Society and the NY Assembly Woman, Linda Rosenthal, conducted investigations to make sure his jackets were truly faux fur.  Some of the fur was fake, but a portion of raccoon dog fur was interlaced.  Any dog fur is too much dog fur.

Linda Rosenthal went undercover into a Century 21 department store, and found items by Marc Jacobs that were not labeled at all, and some were simply marked as “faux.”  When buying from the Marc Jacobs website, the same jacket says it has “real raccoon fur,” and when tested it was real raccoon dog fur.  Inconsistencies question credibility.  According to the Humane Society, the main motive for using raccoon dog fur is that it is cheaper than synthetic fur.

Raccoon dogs are found in China, Japan, and Siberia.  They are poorly housed on farms, and they are killed for their fur, meat, and for medical uses.  A video on Change.org displays a disturbing video of how raccoon dogs are treated.  Their bodies slammed head-first into the ground several times before being skinned alive.  The animal is still wiggling as its fur coat is being removed.

Animal lovers and vegans were outraged, saying that no animal fur should be used in any clothing.  Marc Jacobs owns dogs, and they wonder why a man who probably loves his dogs would be so uncompassionate to animals in general.  Likely, there are dog owners who are not against fur products derived from wild animals.  Raccoon dogs are a “wild canine,” however they are still recognized as dogs – man’s best friend.  Even fur coat lovers would be dead-against this seriously criminal fashion faux pas.

The real crime in this case is fraud.  Marc Jacobs is selling items under the false claim that they are faux fur when they are not.  He is deceiving customers, and giving them a false sense of ethics in his products.  The false advertising promotes an increase in sales while purchasing a lower costing animal fur; increasing his profit margins.  In a way it is a scam to sell something as expensive synthetic fur but use cheaper material instead.  Moreover he is lying to the state through mislabeling.  With the motive to save money in producing the garments, there is no way Marc Jacobs could have been oblivious to the procurement of dog fur.

 ©2013 Caroline Friehs
Originally posted: April 12, 2013

References:

Epstein, E (2013 Mar. 8).  Marc Jacobs ‘faux’ fur coats found to contain real raccoon dog fur.  MSN News.  Retrieved from:  http://news.msn.com/pop-culture/marc-jacobs-faux-fur-coats-found-to-contain-real-raccoon-dog-fur

Gupta, P (2013 Mar. 8).  Human Society reports that Marc Jacobs faux fur coats have dog hair in them.  Salon.com.  Retrieved from:  http://www.salon.com/2013/03/08/humane_society_reports_that_marc_jacobs_faux_fur_coats_have_dog_hair_in_them/

Ortberg, M (2013 Mar. 16).  Some Marc Jacobs ‘Faux Fur’ Jackets Also Contain Dog.  Gawker.  Retrieved from:  http://gawker.com/5990922/

Young, T (2013).  Marc Jacobs:  You were caught selling dog fur!  Stop using ALL fur in your designs!  Change.org.  Retrieved from:  https://www.change.org/petitions/marc-jacobs-you-were-caught-selling-dog-fur-stop-using-all-fur-in-your-designs