동물보호론자의 거센 반대에도, 전 세계 모피 수요는 줄지 않는 가운데, 미국의 도로에서 교통사고로 죽은 야생동물의 모피로 패 션 아이템을 제작하는 회사가 눈길을 끌고 있다.
미국 보스턴에 본사를 둔 신생 패션기업 '쁘띠뜨 모르 퍼(Petite Mort Furs)이 다.
2년 전 이 회사를 창업한 파멜라 파퀸은 스코틀랜드, 덴마크 등지에서 국제 비 즈니스 컨설턴트로 일하다 고향으로 돌아와 패션계에 뛰어들었다.
그리고 '로드킬'로 미국의 도로에서 죽은 연간 3억6천500만 마리의 사슴, 라쿤, 여우, 코요테 등 야생 동물의 털가죽으로 목도리, 모자, 레그워머 같은 퍼(Fur) 아 이템을 만들어내기 시작했다.
동물보호단체 관계자들은 "동물을 죽여 모피옷을 입는 것보다는 낫지만 그래도 모피는 모피"라며 곱지 않은 시선이다.
그러나 파퀸은 14일(현지시간) AP통신과의 인터뷰에서 "근시안적 생각"이라며 "동물보호단체의 노력은 실패로 돌아갔다"고 잘라말했다.
중국, 러시아의 모피 구매력이 증가하고 인조모피까지 대중화되는 등 모피에 대 한 인기가 식지 않고 있다는 것이다.
모피 시장은 세계적으로 연간 350억 달러(41조5천억 원) 규모이며, 이를 위해 매년 5천만 마리의 동물이 희생되는 것으로 파악되고 있다.
파퀸은 "로드킬 동물들은 모두 쓰레기통에 버려진다"며 "이것을 이용하면 다른 동물을 죽이지 않아도 되며, 이런 방식은 합리적"이라고 말했다.
그러면서 모피 옷에 대한 '대안'을 찾아야 하며, 그러려면 인식이 바뀌어야 한 다고 말했다.
그녀는 자신이 만든 모피를 '교통사고 모피'라고 부르는데 주저하지 않는다.
프랑스어로 '작은 죽음'이라는 뜻을 가진 이 회사의 제품은 500∼2천500달러에 이르는 고가이다.
상품마다 모피를 제공한 동물이 어디서, 언제 죽었는지가 기록돼 있다.
파퀸은 동물을 사체를 수습하는데는 전문가의 도움을 받지만, 가죽을 벗기는 작 업은 직접 한다고 말했다. (연합)
<관련 영문 기사>
‘Accidental fur’: Boston company turns roadkill into fashion
Pamela Paquin’s source for fashion is either “tres chic” or will make you shriek.
She creates neck muffs, leg warmers, hats, purses and more from roadkill, or “accidental fur,” as she prefers to call it.
As owner of Petite Mort Furs, a 2-year-old Boston-area company, she said she’s offering the fur industry an alternative to wild fur trapping and large-scale fur farms.
“All this fur is being thrown away,” Paquin said. “If we can pick that up, we never have to kill another fur-bearing animal again.”
Keith Kaplan, head of the Fur Information Council of America, said his trade group considers all North American furs to already be ethically and environmentally responsible.
“Production of fur in North America is highly regulated with guidelines set through years and years (and millions of dollars) of scientific study,” he said via email, declining to comment on Paquin’s company or the general idea of using roadkill for fur. “In fact, the populations of every species used by the industry today are as abundant, or more abundant, than they were a century ago.”
Animal rights groups also have mixed feelings about roadkill fur.
“We’d just say it’s in very poor taste,” said Kara Holmquist at the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, declining to elaborate.
Lisa Lange, a senior vice president at People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals, or PETA, said that there’s “never an excuse” to wear fur, but that it’s “far better” to wear roadkill than farmed fur.
Others worry her products could only serve to prolong the industry they’ve spent decades trying to defeat.
“A business that promotes wearing real fur as fashionable and acceptable may well create more demand for fur from all sources, and could give all fur wearers a shield from legitimate criticism,” said Virginia Fuller, of the Boston-area Citizens to End Animal Suffering and Exploitation, or CEASE.
Paquin counters that the stigma around fur has eroded in recent years.
Greater spending power in China, Russia and elsewhere, as well as greater use of fake fur trimmings on clothes and accessories, has revived its popularity.
That demand, she said, is part of the reason she chose to jump into the industry despite having no background in fashion or design, and after working mostly office jobs for environmental and sustainability organizations.
The Fur Information Council of America said the U.S. alone recorded $1.5 billion in fur sales in 2014. Globally, it’s part of an over $35 billion industry.
“Clearly advocacy had failed,” Paquin said. “Alternatives must be found. Making use of animals that would otherwise be thrown away is sensible.”
Heidi Forbes euroste, a San Francisco-area resident who purchased a fox fur neck muff from Petit Mort last summer, said she’s surprised at the pushback from animal rights groups.
“They’re being short-sighted,” she said. “We should be encouraging people to buy sustainable fur. These are animals that are already dead.”
Products by Petit Mort, which means “the little death” in French and also describes the sensation of orgasm, are decidedly high-end, ranging from $800 to $2,000, depending on the product and type of fur used. They can be found online and on Boston’s fashionable Newbury Street, where the company rents display space in a handmade goods market.
“The value that these products have is that they’re handmade, local and last a lifetime,” Paquin explains. “That’s not just couture and high end, but that’s also sustainable.”
Each piece comes with a personal note explaining where and when the animal was found.
Paquin works with animal control specialists to gather the carcasses, but skins many of them herself. She considers the process almost sacred and doesn’t care much for the “roadkill” label.
“It’s a turnoff,” Paquin said. “It cheapens my product.” (AP)
