It is a feathered tidal wave on the Instagram accounts of fashionistas, red carpets, and even large distribution.The trend of feathers is increasingly imposing its lightness poetics.But it has a sometimes cruel price, which too many animals pay.
Many celebrities all dressed feathers
This fashion trend was particularly striking on the red carpet of the 10th edition of the Lacma Art+film in Los Angeles on November 6, 2021.This cinema event, sponsored by Gucci that evening, saw many celebrities display feathered clothes imagined by the Italian house.
The tennis champion, Serena Williams, wore for example a long black dress and gloves covered with feathers.
British actress Jodie Turner-Smith (The Neon Demon Demon by Nicolas Winding Refn, Queen and Slim by Melina Matsoukas) rather put on a long pink sheath dress, with sleeves with feathers in an even more lively fuchsia shade.
The British model and actress Suki Waterhouse (Divergente 2: Insurrection, Pride and Prejudices and Zombies, Pokémon: Pikachu detective) opted for a beige and silver dress, with arms covered with feathered feathers.
Several men wore costumes with the sleeves lined with feathers: the rapper Lil Nas X A yellow model with Beige details, Jared Leto a white with pink sleeves, and the Australian actor Kodi Smiti-McPhee (X-Men: Apocalypse,Deadpool 2, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, the power of the dog of Jane Campion, and soon Elvis de Baz Luhrmann) a green orange pea with khaki feathers.
Special case: Billie Eilish wore a black dress with sleeves resembling feathers.Except that the singer being officially vegan, it was perhaps imitation-the artist is indeed used to making the brands bend his political requirements.
Where do the feathers border from clothes come from?
Apart from this tsunami on the red carpet, you may also have noticed a few parts lined with feathers on the back of fashionistas and on the shelves of large distribution brands.Do the fashion giants steal from us in the feathers from an ethical point of view with this trend?
On the one hand, luxury houses are used to questioning their practices, suppliers and know-how.They therefore ensure reliable traceability of their raw materials, whose feathers.You can easily ask them the question of their origin.
This is what told me in a recent interview the great craftsman Maxime Leroy, who is used to working with luxury houses:
"For rarer feathers, the plumassiers create partnerships with breeders of ornamentation birds which must ensure very strict and normalized traceability. Il s’agit de plumes qui sont tombées naturellement lors de la mue de l’oiseau.»»
Even brands at low prices use natural feathers
On the other hand, the brands of general public clothes are still provided in natural feathers, because those synthetic, used rather in interior decoration, do not at all rendered the same rendering.This is also explained by Maxime Leroy, today at the head of the February house (L'Atelier de Plumasserie since 1929 which has been taking care of the Red Moulin and commands for haute couture):
"If this craft is scarce, it is not because of the artificial feathers, ultimately quite rare - except in decoration where we actually find these brass threads with fabric on both sides.
Because technically, a natural feather, it is a very steep hair, with small hairs, and when you look under the microscope, we see other micro-stages in the shape of rings or hooks like velcro: even todayHuch, we are unable to reproduce this in an artificial way.This is why even low-cost ready-to-wear brands use natural feathers.»»
When you buy clothes decorated with goose feathers, chickens or rooster, these are generally feathers from food farming, confirms the Plumassier Maxime Leroy:
"The majority of feathers come from breeding, for the most common as the goose.
Today, most birds are killed between three and four months after birth for food consumption.However, it takes between six months and a year to reach their sexual maturity and therefore develop their most beautiful adornment feathers.»»
In the case of marks at low prices, you can always try to ask them: they would be unable to prove to you under what conditions these feathers have been obtained.Have they been simply picked up on the ground or painfully removed from the skin of birds still alive as you would tear your hair?
What is the trend of feathers from an ethical point of view and animal cruelty worth?
This difficult traceability is one of the concerns of PETA, which thus indicates on its site:
"Before decorating dresses and accessories, feathers belong to living and sensitive animals.We tear these feathers from their bodies, which are left bloody, damaged and destroyed.
Since the feathers from hens, turkeys and other animals killed for the meat industry are abundant and cheap, they are often shaded or transformed to be sold in the.»»
Holding clothes and bedding in natural down, much more cruel to animals?
Doubt is therefore more than allowed concerning the feathers that line clothes at low prices. Mais la cruauté apparaît beaucoup plus évidente concernant les couettes, oreillers, et doudounes au « duvet»» naturel, d’après l’association de défense des droits des animaux.Please note, the description is graphic;Go under the quote if you don't want to read it.
"Down is a gentle layer of feathers closer to the skin of birds, located mainly on their chest.These feathers are very coveted by the manufacturers of down and down duvet because these feathers have no spicy end.
Tore their feathers from stress and pain from geese and ducks.Birds that struggle are nailed to the ground to stay in place and are plucked with so much strength that their skin is often tearing themselves apart, leaving open and bloody injuries.The pressed workers, which are also called the "tares", put the cuts with threads and a needle without any anesthetic.Some terrorized animals die from this torture.»»
In other words, the clothes bordered by feathers should arouse much less concern than the stocked coats, pillows and duvets in natural down.If you agree to offer yourself a big jacket or a very soft ear, you can quite ask the questions to brands offering natural down parts to know if it is obtained in a cruelty free or not.
In this sense, certain certifications can be enlightening indicators, such as the Down Standard (RDS) responsible, co-founded in 2014 by the NGO Textile Exchange or the Global Traceable Down Standard (Global TDS) co-founded in 2015 by theInternational NSF certification organization).What to avoid being plucked.
Read also: Save the Duck's feathered jackets
Photo credit of one: Instagram from Gucci and Lena Situations.
