Killer Fashion

In the fashion industry, we often hear the words “Killer” in a way to complement the style that a person is seen using. This word has taken itself from a terrifying and negative word to a positive and outstanding compliment when used with the correct words, especially when it regards fashion styles. However, the way in which I want to portray “killer fashion” drives away from all the positive connotations that the fashion industry has associated this word with and I want to bring back the negative and literal aspect of this word because killer fashion indeed does exist, and it literally kills. 

But who? Who can be killed in the name of fashion? Very simply, animals are often the ones that fall victim to a fashion trend that indeed becomes killer and terminates their innocent lives and all of this done for the sake of human fashion taste. Many fashion brands through the decades have been involved in the process of animal skinning to produce garments and accessories, which have become quite a luxury and a modern sign of class status. Hermes, Moe Hennessy, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Chanel and other luxury goods manufacturers, have been the perfect example of this and in fact have been the eye of the storm for many animal right supporters due to their use of animal skins such as crocodiles and alligators, in the making of their expensive and luxurious accessories. 

An investigation on some farms where the acquisition of crocodile and alligator skins is found, graphically portrays the mistreatment and cold-blooded killings that crocodiles, especially go through for manufacturers to obtain their skins. A crocodile farm was investigated to see the conditions that these intelligent and magnificent animals are put through in the name of fashion, and the results were absolutely heart-wrenching. On these types of farms, crocodiles are crowded together in a small spaced pen where they don't have much access to mobility. In the wild, crocodiles can live for many years, some even longer than regular humans, but PETA investigated that crocodiles are harvested and gruesomely killed at only three years of age. 

This wasn't the only cruelty, in another farm that had been investigated, the crocodiles and alligators were referred to as “watch bands” rather than as animals. This shows how animals are mistreated so deeply and killed in such gruesome ways that at some point the farmworkers stop considering animals as living things and just view them as fashion items. The conditions the alligators and crocodiles are placed under at the time of death are very cruel and disturbing since the animals feel excruciating pain as they are sliced while remaining conscious and remain alive for a while after they are skinned and attempted to be killed. 

Animal leather has been made to be a luxury and a sign of status but very people are actually often unaware of the process that takes for their leather or animal skins and fur to be obtained.  As consumers, especially those of us involved in the fashion industry, we have a big responsibility to ensure that we know the processes of obtaining animal leather and skins as well as fur, especially when there have been cruel animal treatment and killing for the sake of fashion. Unfortunately, the leather and fur industry continues to be considered a valuable and luxurious style, many brands have become known for depending their brands on animal skins and fur which is why places such as the crocodile farms continue to operate at a very fast rate. 

For consumers, the ability to own a luxurious accessory made from animal leather or fur seems to fulfill a sense of accomplishment and elite status, but many don't know that the price that most of these accessories are evaluated to, do not compare to the bigger cost that was paid from the skins of these animals, by these animals. Killer Fashion is continuing to succeed in the fashion industry but many feel uncomfortable when watching videos of what really happens to the animals that are made into material meant for luxurious accessories. Often, people forget that the expensive and high-quality leather that they are using was once attached to a living thing. 

The idea of it could disturb many consumers, which is why many often just choose to ignore what took for their accessory to be made. However, if people were more aware of the process, many would take a second thought when it comes to shopping for animal leather accessories. A proof of this was an experiment from PETA in Asia that created “bags that bleed”. Using modern technology, PETA was able to replicate the exact texture of the leather of a crocodile and made it into a bag. They displayed this bag in very high-end allocations. Upon seeing the luxurious bag, many people began to inspect it but when they opened the main zipper, they were surprised by something gory and disturbing... A replication of the inside of a living animal, specifically of a crocodile. 

The technology used made a copy of a beating and thumping heart as well as blood vessels, inner skin and other organs; all of this done artificially. When shoppers opened the bag, they were immediately horrified at what they were viewing because, from their perspective, it looked like the inside of the crocodile that had been killed to make their bag. This experiment was extremely successful in Asia because consumers felt sick and overall uneasy with the way they experienced this project. Most of them even began to realize that luxurious leather was once attached to a living animal. The reason why crocodile and alligator farms that produce leather, animal testing and fur products exist because, at some point in production, people forgot that the skin, fur or cosmetic they own was once attached to an animal or that it was once used to test on a living thing. While the luxury of leathers and the convenience of animal testing has existed, and it potentially will keep existing, it is important that at least we, as consumers, are aware that the highest price paid to create our most luxurious accessories or preferred cosmetics did not come from us, but from animals who paid with their lives, for us as humans to get some satisfaction.