Here's Why You Shouldn't Wear Feathers This Party Season

Party-season trends tend to repeat themselves. Every year we see sequins, velvet, satin, and rich jewel colours. One or two faux furs tend to creep in too. Another festive repeat offender is feathers – and this material, which shows up as trims or stoles, is an offender indeed, at least when it comes to the animals who suffered for it.

By Sascha Camilli: writer, speaker, activist, and vegan fashion expert. 

Decorative feathers have been paraded on runways for many years, without ever really being subjected to the scrutiny of fur or even leather. The use of feathers in clothing is thousands of years old, peaking in Victorian times: during the 1800s, several bird species were driven to extinction due to soaring demand for feathers to adorn hats and other fashion items. Today, feathers are a popular fixture on red carpets and commonly show up during couture fashion shows, where the most extravagant designs are showcased.

Are feathers moulted naturally?

Some brands claim that fashion's opulent feather dresses are the result of birds' natural moulting. Unfortunately, traceability in the industry makes that claim difficult to verify - but natural moulting doesn't appear to be a viable way to maintain an industry. Birds would have to moult at a huge rate in order to keep up with the demand for feathers. Today's fashion industry might be different from that of Victorian times, but natural moulting is no match for contemporary production cycles, which we know are vicious.

OK, then how are feathers made?

Feathers can have different provenances - but no matter where they come from, the story isn't likely to be a pretty one. Firstly, when you see the label "marabou", don't be quick to trust it. In reality, those feathers rarely come from the marabou stork - their real provenance is likely to be a factory farm, where they were torn from the slaughtered bodies of turkeys and chickens. These birds will have spent their entire lives in cramped, dirty conditions before being violently and prematurely killed. As the world is increasingly aware, factory farming also contributes immensely to the climate crisis. This is the kind of feather that you'll be likely to find on boas and stoles sold on the high street.

Where do luxury feathers come from?

But the feathers fashion really covets aren't marabou - they are likely to come from ostriches. These curious, intelligent animals fall victims to the fashion industry's desire for feathers, but they are also killed for their skins, which have a telltale "dotted" look - the dots are actually the feather follicles, from which feathers can be torn while ostriches are alive. A PETA investigation into ostrich farming in South Africa revealed that these birds, who in their natural state can live up to 40 years, are killed at one year of age for the fashion industry. They are forced into stun boxes to be electrically stunned before their throats are slit - all in full view of each other. Their skins are sold to luxury brands for pricey accessories, and feathers are commonly used in costumes as well as swanky red-carpet dresses.

What if it's fake?

As vegans we love a faux label. From faux meat and cheese to fake fur and leather, we cherish finding a good copy of the real deal. But unfortunately, the feather department isn't as rich in faux varieties as, say, plant leather. Plus, when you do find a dupe, it's possible that it's not really a dupe after all. The Feathers are the New Fur report from Collective Fashion Justice has found that mislabelling is rife in the industry, including at major retailers. Feathers that come from birds are labelled as faux and misleading consumers into believing that they are buying a cruelty-free product. This is particularly infuriating if we consider that consumers polled by CFJ expressed that they don't find farming wild animals for fashion to be acceptable.

 “Feathers are just as cruel as fur, also taken from animals who are slaughtered specifically for fashion," says Collective Fashion Justice founder Emma Håkansson. “And yet, the fashion industry is using ostrich feathers as though they were faux fur, misunderstanding that they are replacing one injustice with another. With this report, we hope to highlight this problem and help move the industry towards responsible, sustainable and ethical alternatives.” Speaking of...

What are the ethical alternatives?

In today's wave of conscious fashion, the industry is growing increasingly wary of feathers. The Fashion Weeks of Melbourne and Copenhagen have banned them from their runways, and the most recent Victoria's Secret fashion show was entirely feather-free, featuring vegan feathers only. Stella McCartney launched a Feather-Free Pledge alongside PETA, calling on designers to drop feathers from their collections. This mindset shift creates the perfect breeding ground for innovation.

Vegan innovation is coming for feathers, just like it already came for fur and leather. High-fashion designer Iris van Herpen has experimented with different fabric technologies to recreate the movement of feathers. French vegan brand Blue District has created vegan "ostrich feathers" made from bamboo, and faux-fur artisans ECOPEL also offer vegan feathers. There is still space for innovation in this area, but as events and retailers go feather-free, it will undoubtedly follow. Watch this space.

By Sascha Camilli

About Sascha

Sascha Camilli is a vegan fashion writer, speaker and activist. Her book Vegan Style is out now on Murdoch Books. For more about Sascha, you can read our interview with her or read her newsletter Kind of Wild. You can also follow her on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Cover image by Julian Hanslmaier. Second image by Christophe van der Waals. Third image by Dominic Yegon.

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