Victoria Beckham hadpledged never to use real fur in any of her
celebrated fashion collections.The
former Spice Girl-turned-designerangered campaigners after including alligator skin handbags and purses
in her latest clothing range.The
41-year-old, who has won widespread praise among the fashion industry for her
upmarket designs, was criticised forselling ostrich skin bags and satchels made from python skin at a cost
of up to £18,000.
The items designed by
Miss Beckham, also include a £10,900 large box bag along with a £9,900 smaller
version, both of which have been made from alligator skin.
The
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have now raised concerns
over where the animals used to make the items were farmed. A crocodile farm or alligator farm is an
establishment for breeding and raising of crocodilians in order to produce
crocodile and alligator meat, leather, and other goods. Many species of both
alligators and crocodiles are farmed internationally. In Louisiana alone,
alligator farming is a multi million
industry.
Years
ago, women’s obsession for quality handbags developed – the search for sophisticated,
well-designed leather handbag increased leading to bags made of animal leather
– from extinct animals and ones made of
crocodile, or alligator. It is vanity
fashion that an alligator handbag, with
a "griffe" or designer label, could give elegance and class to a
woman who didn't have the money for a couture jacket or evening gown. Of the some elitist brands, Birkin bag by
Hermès, handmade in leather and named after actress and singer Jane Birkin is
quite popular. The bag is a symbol of wealth due to its high
price and usage by celebrities. By some
accounts, in 1981, Hermès chief
executive Jean-Louis Dumas travelled
seated next to Jane Birkin on a flight
from Paris to London; and in 1984, he created a black supple leather bag for
her. That costliest bag was a fuchsia
diamond-encrusted crocodile skin 2014 Birkin, sold to an anonymous phone bidder
at Christie’s international handbags and accessories auction in Hong Kong.
Sometime
back in Aug 2014, passengers flying First or Business Class with Emirates,
Qatar or Etihad, were luckier to receive
lavish gifts. The airline's
vanity bags were voted the best in the world. However, those traveling with
Air Canada, Condor and Iberia were not
in the same league as their amenity kits
were ranked the worst. Forty-eight vanity bags from economy, business and First
Classes from 27 of the world's top airlines were rated on a scale of one to six
- with one ranked as 'taxiing' and six as 'fly me to the moon.' Five airlines achieved a six-star review: Emirates,
Etihad, Japan Airlines, Qatar and United Airlines - while Air Canada, Condor
and Iberia were awarded just three stars.
As demand
from the world’s elite surges for the skins, luxury-goods companies are reported
to be making acquisitions to secure supply of the beasts, whose habits can make
simply collecting their eggs a matter of life and death. Raising the reptiles
from hatchling to arm candy without scratches from other crocs is another major
challenge. “Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci
are trying to elevate the level of perceived exclusivity of their brands, and
exotic-skin products really help in this,” said Mario Ortelli, an analyst at
Sanford C. Bernstein in London. Some big
brands own farms and some have purchased ones.
Exotic animal skins make up almost 10 percent of the total revenue from
handbag sales for luxury brands, at least double their share a few years ago, it is estimated.
While
salt-water porosus crocodiles found in Australia are the trickiest -- with
enough skin produced for about 25,000 bags a year -- no crocodile is easy or
cheap to raise, and it takes years to breed them.South
Africa’s Le Croc crocodile breeding farm and tannery, along reportedly sends about 5,000 Nile crocodile skins to
Europe each year. To begin with, cow
leather comes from animals raised for beef, and their hides are a by-product.
Though some people consider crocodile meat a delicacy -- and growers like van
As feed it back to the animals -- it’s the skins that pay the bills for
crocodile farmers. While cows can
ruminate for hours on their own in a meadow, from the moment an 80-gram African
Nile crocodile hatchling snaps its way out of the egg, van As has to provide a
calm environment. Their pens are cleaned
daily and the animals require a strict feeding routine. Only the same few
handlers are allowed to approach them. They dine mostly on chicken and selected
oils to improve their skin. That all promotes growth, reduces stress and helps
keep the crocs’ mighty jaws off each other.
“The bottom line is that one cannot expect to harvest a first-grade skin
from an animal which has been abused,” said van As.
Making life
easier for the crocodiles also helps their handlers. While the Nile crocodile
isn’t as large, territorial or aggressive as the porosus, it’s hardly friendly.
They grow to about 5 meters (16 feet) in length and weigh up to 700 kilograms
(1,543 pounds). And they will eat almost any prey that ends up in the water.
One of van As’s farmer colleagues was killed by a crocodile after falling in
the water.
For them it
is no animal, but rich cash supplying product; yet they claim that keeping the animals
happy and handlers alive isn’t enough to sell to the biggest luxury companies. It is stated that to keep the belly in good
condition, the slaughter, skinning and parts of the tanning process at Le Croc
are done by hand. For slaughter, the animals are checked and stunned twice
before being killed by a cut at the nape of the neck and a pithing of the
brain. The skins Le Croc supplies to customers are then tanned or dyed on site.
To be sure of
its clean supply, LVMH purchased an Australian crocodile farm for
A$2.6 million ($2.5 million) while Kering bought tannery France Croco a month
later. In the end, it’s all worth it to such companies and Hermes International
SCA, whose waiting lists for its famous Birkin bags can be years-long. There are women who don’t care about money
that love the beautiful things – the bags made of crocodile skin are in demand
and so is the demand for crocodile and alligator – a trend that is unlikely to
end in near future, as the fashion World promotes it to be a classic.
Back
home, the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust and Centre for Herpetology (MCBT) is a
reptile zoo and herpetology research station.
The leading institution for
herpeto faunal conservation, research and education, is the first crocodile breeding center in
Asia. It does not supply skin to any fashion
manufacturer but was established with
the aim of saving three Indian endangered species of crocodile—the marsh or
mugger crocodile, the saltwater crocodile, and the gharial, which at the time
of founding of the trust were all nearing extinction.
It is
very different across various parts of the Globe !!!
With
regards – S. Sampathkumar
2nd
June 2015.
With inputs taken from : http://www.businessoffashion.com/
