In the early 1990s, Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer, and other models began appearing in advertisements for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals proclaiming that “I’d Rather Go Naked than Wear Fur.”
Crawford is not walking around naked yet, but she was spotted at a Milan fashion show wearing a knee-length fur coat designed by Roberto Cavalli. After the show, Crawford was quoted as saying, “That was really fun. It’s like being a little girl playing dressing up.”
On the other hand, the explanation from Crawford’s publicist suggest that Crawford is either stupid or dishonest or (probably) both. Crawford spokeswoman Annett Wolf actually told the press that Crawford never really believed in PETA’s fur campaign but did it simply as a favor for a designer friend. “A long time ago, Cindy did a favor for Todd Oldham. Todd had designed a fake fur hat and she modelled it,” Wolf said.
Wolf implies that PETA simply used the picture in its ads but Crawford never endorse their point of view which is the sort of explanation that might work with Crawford’s sycophantic hangers-on but makes no sense at all. A more likely explanation is that being anti-fur was the super model trend in the 1990s, whereas fur itself seems to be the trendy thing to do now.
Naomi Campbell, who also appeared in those ads but broke with PETA soon after, also showed up at the show wearing a fur-trimmed jacket designed by Dolce and Gabbana.
Schiffer was not at the show, but she modeled a fur coat in a December 2001 fashion show.
Source:
What a difference eight years makes. The Advertiser, March 6, 2002.
Catwalk hypocrisy. Miranda Fettes, The Scotsman, March 6, 2002.