Here's Why Stars Won't Be Buying Fur in Hollywood Anymore
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Animal rights activists were doing the happy dance on Tuesday evening following some good news from the West Coast — specifically, Los Angeles.
The AP reports that a proposal to ban the sale of fur advanced in the City Council on Tuesday, however nothing is official quite yet. The council voted unanimously to direct the city attorney to draft an ordinance that would prohibit both the manufacturing and sale of fur products; however, they also directed the attorney to look into "how fur apparel is utilized by religious organizations, and possible exemptions, as well as potential conflicts with federal and state laws relating to sale of fur products derived from legally trapped animals." So there's that.
Should everything check out, the ban would go into effect two years after the approval of the ordinance. So, if all goes according to plan, the prohibition would begin sometime in 2020 at the earliest. It would also make Los Angeles the largest city in the U.S. to carry out such a ban.
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Though animal rights activists and organizations like PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) have been lobbying for such legislation for years (decades, really), it wasn't until relatively recently that larger luxury brands — the biggest culprits — really began to take notice. Last December, Michael Kors made the commitment to going fur free, and earlier this year, Burberry announced, too, that it would no longer use fur in its designs. Longtime animal rights and sustainability advocate Stella McCartney, as well as Gucci, Versace, Giorgio Armani, Tommy Hilfiger and John Galliano are among the other global brands that have also made a commitment to ditch fur.
Of course, a number of celebrities, including Charlize Theron, Pam Anderson an Meghan Markle (according to her close pals), and First Lady Melania Trump have also chosen not to wear fur. This very magazine no longer prints fur products in its pages either.
It's true that it might be easier for Los Angeles to embrace the ban given that it doesn't have the brutal winters that America's fashion capital New York City suffers from on an annual basis. (Although there are plenty of alternatives, people!) But that's not to say that the city never had it's fair sure of furs. In the early days of Hollywood, a fur stole was a common accessory, and even Barbra Streisand wasn't about to turn down a fur coat for the 2004 L.A. premiere of Meet the Fockers.
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As much as we love an extra red carpet look, we have a feeling that Streisand can bring it sans fur, too.