Fur sales soar amid fears over rising pelt prices - despite PETA protests at New York Fashion Week
Animal rights group PETA may have been using New York Fashion Week to protest against the use of fur, but their aggressive campaigns don't seem to have had an impact on sales.
Demand for animal skins is higher than ever, according to industry insiders, who credit the surge in sales to designers who increasingly use them in collections, and interest from China, which is responsible for 70 per cent of global fur sales.
But the growing trend for fur is sparking a rise in wholesale prices, with a predicted increase of 15-20 per cent this year.
Animal magic: Fur is soaring in price as trend-setting labels like Michael Kors fuel Chinese demand, which is responsible for 70 per cent of global sales
The average price of some mink pelts has climbed as high as 20 per cent in the past two months alone, according to data quoted in the New York Post.
And designers have reported that the finest quality pelts are commanding prices of up to 50 per cent more than usual.
The spike in the cost of fur follows a 10 per cent rise in 2010, a spokesman from North American Fur Auctions revealed.
Retailers are expected to cope with the increase by passing it on to shoppers.
Intermix CEO Khajak Keledjian told the paper: 'People are ordering their fur earlier in the season than ever because they're afraid of what they'll have to pay if they wait until the following week.'
PETA launched a series of campaigns against the use of fur this week, in a bid to harness attention from the press in New York for Fashion Week.
The animal rights group unveiled several celebrity-endorsed posters that bore the tagline: 'Fur? I'd rather go naked.'
And Project Runway's Tim Gunn backed a new bid to ban the use of animal pelts at New York Fashion Week on Friday.
He said: 'I'm on a campaign to get as many fashion designers as possible to stop using it. I'd just like to sit with them and have a talk and ask: "Is it really necessary?"'
PETA also threatened to storm designer Donna Karan's headquarters in Manhattan during fashion week with the excruciating sound of screaming rabbits in protest of her use of the animals' skins.
Fur continues to be heavily favoured by the fashion set however, with the industry's matriarch, Anna Wintour, regularly spotted in fur coats.
And if the latest collections are any indication, it appears fashion designers are using fur more than ever, with Michael Kors and Oscar de la Renta using it in their collections.
Animal skins aren't the only thing affecting designers' production costs. Earlier this week it was revealed the cost of cotton was set to soar as well.
Rising costs of labour and raw materials were said to be to blame.
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