Fashion is like a pampered and capricious woman, always changing her mind and asking for something new. But there’s one thing she is unlikely to ever turn down: sumptuous silky fur, enveloping her body. Fur is back and this year it is hot as never. Or maybe it has never been gone. As said one famous designer: “The fur closet door was always slightly ajar. Now it’s wide open again. The protests haven’t stopped, but it appears people are choosing to defy them.”

The spirit of the 1920s with a splash of the 50s of the last century is expressed through the multiple multiform fur coats, jackets, mantles, boas, collars and trimmings that have conquered runways. Splendid mink, fox and sable fur has been featured in most designer’s collections. The list continues with chinchilla, nutria, beaver, wolf, rabbit, astrakhan, squirrel, seal and even leopard. Designers, manufacturers and retailers have embraced fur in all possible forms this season, offering various designs and styles with modern cuts and bold colors.

More and more celebrities and models are endorsing fur these days, causing a surge of its popularity. Experts explain it as a “conspicuous consumption” period, when people want to look flashier, and fur being a part of it. Sandra Halliday of Worth Global Style Network, a fashion monitoring service, says: “Fur is expensive and, whatever you say about it morally, it also says ’I’ve got lots of money’. Consumers want to tap in to that. ”

For some animal fur is a shield against severe winter gusts, for others it’s a symbol of status and luxury. And not only for the fair sex. For men 2004-2005 season is a fashion for short fur jackets and coats with high luxuriant collars, manifesting masculinity in combination with elegance.

But despite the peaking popularity and fashionability of natural fur, there are plenty of compassionate people, including celebrities, who are still refusing to wear it.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has been actively using PR and advertising campaigns for many years, protesting against the misuse of fur as fashion item and the cruelty of the trade which causes death of millions of animals.

Lisa Franzetta, campaign coordinator for PETA based in the USA, told Vicky Pepys of The Journal: “As you know, many top designers adamantly refuse to work with fur because of the tremendous suffering of the millions of animals caught in traps and killed on filthy fur farms every year for the fur trade.”

“Stella McCartney is a particularly outspoken fur-foe who, along with others like Todd Oldham and USA designers Ben Cho, Gaelyn & Cianfarani and Marc Bouwer, does not use fur or leather in any of their collections.

“Many models and celebrities also reject the cruelty of fur,” said Lisa. “Beauties including Pamela Anderson, Christina Applegate, Sophie Ellis- Bextor, Pink, Charlotte Ross, Christy Turlington, Carre Otis, Alicia Silverstone and Marcus Schenkenberg not only refuse to wear fur, but have posed in PETA ads, denouncing the practice of breaking animals’ necks and anally electrocuting them for the sake of vanity.”

With the words “If you wouldn’t wear your dog, please don’t wear ANY fur”, Oscar-winning actress and PETA supporter Charlize Theron appeared on the organization’s poster with her dog. Croatian actor Goran Visnjic has also posed with his dog for an advertisement aimed at Eastern European countries, featuring the same slogan.

Thankfully to ingenious technological processes, today we have an exceptional cruelty free alternative to natural fur, which can amazingly imitate any creature of the animal world and is more affordable and functional due to its lighter weight and washability.

Fashion designers like Perry Ellis, Kate Spade and Benjamin Cho, whose spring 2005 catwalk show was sponsored by the U.S. Humane Society, have also turned to the employment of faux fur in their glamorous collections. As said Cho to Samantha Critchell of Associated Press, it took him some time and a lot of experimentation to learn to work with faux fur, but now he is enthusiastic about it:

“For me, I like the volume of it. It puts a shape to a garment. You can’t really do a chubby with anything else but fur; you would have to use 20 layers of silk or a down jacket to get the same volume.”

He also said that modern faux offers a texture worthy of high prices and chic styles. “The fake furs of today feel almost the same as real. I was really impressed. It’s not like the faux fur that my grandma wears -- it’s not dry, not wiry.”

Pamela Anderson is also offering animal-friendly alternatives to pelts in her new “Pamela Anderson” collection, which is being launched in the US this fall.

French company Tissavel, which has been manufacturing luxurious faux fur and technical fabric since 1953, is the biggest among fake fur producers, exporting its goods to 45 countries and having 80 per cent of them used by the fashion industry.

“In addition to designers who work exclusively with faux, most who continue to use real animals skins now recognize the huge market share made up of compassionate shoppers who shun all fur, and many also do cruelty-free faux designs,” said PETA’s Lisa Franzetta.

Though, as said the designer mentioned in the beginning of the article, the fur closet door is “wide open” now, it will always be “slightly ajar”. And it’s only up to your wallet and your own moral principles to decide whether to enter it.