SYDNEY: High profile designer Camilla Franks is the target of a new anti-fur campaign, with a protest planned outside her Bondi store next week.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) spokesperson Angie Stephenson said the protest will be staged on Tuesday or Wednesday, to express the view that any use of fur in fashion is not acceptable. Stephenson said Franks had been chosen as she has used fur trims on her designs.
A spokesperson for Franks said the designer was disappointed at the approach by PETA, as she had only used fur in around one per cent of her designs. The representative said Franks is meticulous about ensuring any fur used comes from suppliers that do not mistreat animals.
The move is part of a fresh push by PETA to alert Australian designers to its cause ahead of the winter 2011 season. It has embraced X Factor judge Natalie Imbruglia to front a video message and a poster. Imbruglia has also signed a letter which has been sent to a number of designers, including Rachel Gilbert, Claude Maus, Alice McCall and Helen Cherry.
"There is no kind way to rip the skin off animals' backs," it said. "Anyone who wears any fur shares the blame for the… gruesome deaths of millions of animals each year."
It explained to designers that animals trapped in the wild often suffer for days before dying or being killed.
"Some, especially mothers desperate to return to their babies, chew off their own limbs in order to escape,” it said. “On fur farms, animals spend their lives pacing in cramped wire cages until they are poisoned, electrocuted, gassed or beaten to death."
The charity organisation hopes these brands will join other leading designers including Kit Willow, Alannah Hill, Ginger & Smart and Fleur Wood in declaring they will design fur-free.