(环球网时尚频道李晓丹)全球部分品牌和地区开展了零皮草运动,拒绝使用皮草究竟是对还是错,环球网时尚频道专访国际毛皮协会CEO Mark Oaten,听听他是怎么说的?
如今,海洋和陆地的塑料污染问题日益引起关注。当代时尚及环境永续的抉择,让天然毛皮与人造塑料毛皮成为当今时尚媒体的热门话题。如何衡量天然毛皮及人造“环保”皮草,每个消费者是否都应该有自由选择的权利?而当全球部分品牌和地区开展零皮草运动,拒绝使用皮草究竟是对还是错?环球网时尚频道专访国际毛皮协会CEO Mark Oaten,听听他是怎么说的。
Q:环球网时尚频道李晓丹
A:国际毛皮协会IFF Global CEO Mr. Mark Oaten
Session I – 毛皮与时尚
Q: 首先请问您认为毛皮在时尚行业中的地位?
A:天然毛皮时尚原料非常之特殊,如果您拥有一件天然毛皮制品,您会知道您拥有的正是独一无二,永远不会有人与您相同,因为每一件毛皮都不一样,都有着自己的特点。这与您采购一件工厂量化制作的服饰概念完全不同,您现在穿着的衣服可能同时有数百位人士与您一般,但是毛皮制品仅此一件,您将是唯一与众不同的那位。因而我们拥有最高技术且熟练的工匠,以及高难度的工艺设计。毛皮每一张皮的特征各异、手工工艺制作时间相当长,包括如何工艺师如何把持和延伸毛皮加工所耗费的心思,包括颜色拼接、花色匹配等,再将其制成一件服装更需要数月的时间。如今,您所拥有的时尚产品中,极少数能同时拥有如此多的技巧、耐心和热情,这也是为什么毛皮仍是世界上最令人难以置信的奢侈品之一。
It’s one of the amazing things about fur, if you buy any fur product, you know it’s totally unique, there is not going to be another one like this, because every single fur skin is different. If you buy a dress, the chances are there are a hundred women wearing exactly the same dress, because it’s been printed or produced in a factory, but if you buy a fur, it is unique. You will be the only person wearing that kind of fur, because it is from an individual fur skin, and that’s why we have to have some of the world’s most skilled craftsmen, it takes hours of technics to take individual fur skin to match them together to make sure that when they make the color in to them, it’s done properly, and to produce the garments can take month and month. It is rare these days that you have a fashion item, which has got so much skill and patience and passion put into it, that’s why fur remains the most incredible luxury item in the world.
Q:为什么您认为毛皮将不会从时尚行业中消失?
A:毛皮将永远在时尚产业占有一席之地,他是设计师所能运用最神奇的素材之一,因而受到很多设计师的钟爱。又如前所述,对于想要购买与搜藏奢侈艺术品的人们,毛皮将永远是他们期盼的品项。我们相信毛皮行业会继续的发展。尤其是在大家越来越关注环保,并期许在拥有时尚同时,维持自然可续性,以此观点,我相信没有任何其他比天然毛皮更能达成时尚永续传承及自然维护的材料。天然毛皮独一无二的美丽、极佳的保暖程度以及天然永续性,确认着毛皮在时尚产业中无可取代的地位,而实际上,他也已经是引领时尚超过百年的天然时尚元素。
Fur would always in the fashion industry because it’s one of the most amazing materials for designers to work with, and it’s always for people who want to buy and have a luxury fur item, fur would remain that, but I’m a hundred percent confident that fur sales will get to grow in the years ahead, for this reason, increasingly people care about the environment and they want to be sustainable when they buy that fashion, and I passionately believe that there is no other product that is more natural and sustainable than working with real natural fur, it’s beautiful, it keeps you warm and it’s sustainable, for those reasons, it’s gonna be here for hundreds of years to come.
Session II – 天然毛皮永续自然的真相
Q: 请问您如何看待“零毛皮运动”?
A:目前,的确有些时尚品牌宣布要放弃天然毛皮,我们认为这是错误的选择。而也有城市考虑禁止动物毛皮,协会则相信时尚品牌及市场应给予消费者自由选择的权力。目前全球对于环境及海洋保护都相当重视,天然毛皮是能够完全降解回归于自然的天然原料,相反的,人造毛皮和化学产品对环境、海洋负面影响相对重大。所以我们希望传达给这些品牌及城市的讯息在于:希望他们能够站在整体环境保护的高度,对于宣告放弃天然且可持续的原料,转由人造塑料取代的决策,进行重新评估与考虑。
We think that the brands that are giving up fur are making a very big mistake. It seems to be that is wrong for a brand, or indeed the city to decide to give up fur, surely, they should let individual customers to make their own mind up, and particularly at the moment when there is so much concern about the impact of plastic and fake products on the environments and the oceans. It seems to be a very strange decision to stop selling natural fur, which is the sustainable product, and to switch to the fake alternatives, which is bad for the environments, so my massage to any brand that has given up on fur is to think again, and to actually think about protecting the environment and to come back to natural fur.
Q: 这些部分品牌停止使用毛皮的现况,对毛皮行业有什么影响吗?
A:诸如像知名度很高的时尚品牌Gucci宣布放弃使用毛皮确实是让人失望的举措,但实际上,采用毛皮设计为主的品牌依然秉持天然而存在。我们并没有特别关注到此现象对于毛皮产业销售的影响,但我们留意到,媒体记者们因为Gucci品牌事件而开始对于天然毛皮行业进行报导,使得天然毛皮议题成为人们关注的焦点。有争议的发生,对于毛皮行业未必不是一件好事,这让我们有机会出来向全世界发声,告诉大家事实的真相,也让Gucci有机会重新评估考虑这个决策,我们很欢迎各界的咨询,也有信心坦然面对,天然毛皮才是责任之选。
Of course, it’s really disappointing when a brand like Gucci decides that it’s not going to work with fur, but the good news is that the vast majorities of brands are still working with fur and have sales that are very strong. So we don’t notice an impact in terms of the fur sales. What we do notice is impact in media and journalists talking about fur, because it when it announces announcements like Gucci, it puts fur right to the focus of people’s minds, but I don’t mind that, I think it’s great, it means that it gives the fur industry a chance to come out and tell the world that we think Gucci was wrong and they need to think again. So, for me, the debate is a good thing and something I welcome, but it doesn’t impact on our sales.
Q:目前,对于这些已经做出决定的品牌,协会将如何影响他们的决策?
A:实际上,海洋塑料污染问题已成为全球性关注且热烈讨论的议题,国际毛皮协会将会透过系列广宣告知大众,天然毛皮对环境的良性影响,包括其可以传承数个世代的永续性,及可以完全降解回归自然的环保特性,这种天然原料对环境可续性方面具有正面的影响,天然毛皮绝不会对海洋造成生态污染,也不会成为垃圾掩埋场的填充物。我们将会透过全球杂志等媒介,包括在纽约时代广场的大型广告牌,运用数字媒体与消费者建立直接沟通,同时与品牌及设计师进行深度沟通,让大家知道运用羊毛、羊绒、棉花及天然毛皮等时尚原料,对于维护拯救我们的自然环境是多么的重要。我们诚挚希望透过这些素材告知消费者,快时尚中大量采用的塑料元素,是造成环境污染的真正问题所在,而天然原料同时拥有时尚及维持自然永续性的解决方案之一。
At the moment, the concerns that the public have around about plastic in the ocean is really important across the globe, many people are talking about this issue, so the international fur federation are launching a series of advertising campaigns to highlight how natural fur, real fur can be a product which lasts for decades and can be fully biodegradable, it will not damage the oceans, it will not end in a waste landfill sites. We have campaigns running in magazines around the globe, we will have a billboard campaign in New York’s Times Square, we are running social media campaigns, and talking directly to consumers, and also brands and designers about how important working with natural products, like wool, cotton, cashmere and fur is to saving the environment. Fast fashion is a problem, and fur is part of the solution to a most sustainable fashion world, and this is the message we are taking out to consumers.
Session III – FUR MARK天然毛皮认证的严格规定与管控
Q: 在您看来,毛皮是罪恶的行业吗?
A:我们坚信并要求产业无论是养殖或是野生狩猎的来源,操作者都将把动物福利视为重中之重,所有举措都应遵从严格守则及国际标准,包括饲养过程中的用水、饲料、动物居所及玩具都有严格监控和规定,定期有动物医生检测动物成长并为他们注射疫苗,科学家会不断研究哪些饲养方式最适合动物成长。这正是因为大家对毛皮行业及动物福利的关注,使得毛皮行业在动物养殖业中,保证并持续研究拟定最高标准及严格把控的动物福利政策。
Anybody that works with animals, whether they are farming animals, or whether they are trapping animals in the wild, puts animal welfare and the protection of animal’s right at the heart of that business, so all of our farmers, all of our trappers are trained to the very highest standards. We have an international standard to make sure that the way the animals are cared for on the farms, so they are given the righteous cage conditions, the right amount of water and every part of the animal welfare is assessed by vets, we base all of our farming processes on the very latest science, because it is really important in an industry like fur, which is on the scrutiny that we have the very highest possible animal welfare standards.
Q:动物福利是全球性的准则、还是地域性的?
A:目前,我们正在推进"Fur Mark"全球认证系统计划项目,这个计划期能确保国际上每个国家都能对于毛皮产业链各环节的相关规定有着统一标准。未来,我们将能透过这个认证系统追踪毛皮的来源,至于其来自哪个国家的哪家农场。本项目前涵括整个欧洲、美国及加拿大等相关国际组织,近来,国际毛皮协会也持续推动此系统在中国农场运用的进程,同时取得良好的进度。中国政府及中国毛皮行业更积极采用第三方科学家、学者进行监管监控,并制定动物福利的相关标准规范与法条,政府和行业的努力带领中国农场通过检测和认证,目前进展顺利,我们也期能见到中国农场能陆续达到本认证监控系统的体制标准规范。
We are at the moment of drawing up a global certification program called Fur Mark and this will be a project to ensure that in every country around the world we have a set of standards, and we are also able to trace the individual animal through the process, so that we can say to brands, this animal came from this farm and from this country and is part of the certification program. So, these programs at the moment will cover the European farming, the American Canadian farming, they will cover wild fur from America, and we are in the process of working with the Chinese farmers to begin their standard program, and they are making great progress. They’ve been appointing independent scientists to set the regulation in place, and I’m really excited, I’m pleased to report that we have some very very good performing farms here in China and they are working towards joining global programs in future years.
Q: 全球监证系统Fur Mark是否是强制执行的?
A:"Fur Mark"将是硬性强制行的,我们将严肃而认真的执行这个项目。正式开始推进之后,各大时尚品牌采购材料都必须具备有"Fur Mark"标识,这将视不可忽视的环节,协会将确保每个人都认定这个标准。更重要的是,欧美等地区一旦开始执行全球认证系统,则所在区域中的农场,若在接受检验时,未能通过第三方检测,他将被淘汰并且无法使用"Fur Mark"标识,而国际毛皮协会及品牌都不会接受没有"Fur Mark"标识的毛皮。协会坚决反对不肖业者,也绝不接受行业中有不良业者,我们会严格掌控认证系种必严厉惩罚不遵守"Fur Mark"的个别业者。
So, Fur Mark will be a compulsory program, we take this issue very seriously. And so, if anybody from the big brands is going to purchase fur, it must have the Fur Mark label, this is not something which people can ignore, and we will make sure the Fur Mark is the global standard that everybody signs up to. And what’s really important is that within the individual programs in Fur Mark, If a farmer is not able to make the standard when he is inspected, then they are taken out of the program, they can’t continue to use the Fur Mark name, because I don’t take bad welfare at all, I will not accept bad welfare, so we have strict controls and strict punishments in place if individual farmers do not abide by the rules that are set under the Fur Mark programs.
Q: 对于野生狩猎取得毛皮这种形式有什么标准?
A:野生毛皮在加拿大和美国这两个国家尤其重要,目前严格的狩猎规定乃是根据国家生态保护计划而制定。根据生态平衡及物种繁殖等方面的控制,例如,加拿大野生河狸繁殖量过剩将影响植物生态的自然环境平衡,因此政府必须谨慎控制野生河狸的繁殖量,并与遵守严格规定的狩猎者合作,配合作为生态平衡及物种繁殖的策略之一。而对于濒危的野生动物,在各种情况下,都是绝对严禁狩猎的。
Wild fur is really important, particularly in Canada and America, and the fur we that trap is part of a conservation program. So, in Canada or America, you have, for example, beaver, which is wild, but is over abundant, there are too many beavers, and they are causing damage to the environment, so our trappers will come in and trap the beaver, and that’s helpful for stopping the damage the beavers caused. The whole of the trapping industry is regulated very strongly in Canada and America, and it’s also really important that we never trap from species that are rare or endanger. They can only come from abundant species where we have to help to manage the population.
Session IV –天然毛皮工艺传承与新税设计师的火花Q: 国际毛皮协会对于毛皮工艺设计、传承方面有什么好的举措?对于扶植新锐设计师和年轻设计师活动,长远意义在哪里?
A:协会目前积极支持扶植新锐设计师,我们与VOGUE意大利合作全球国际性的设计比赛"REMIX国际时尚及皮草设计大赛",这是一场全球性的的比赛,设计师须通过国家级别赛、五大洲区赛,并进而作为世界各区域的设计师代表,前往米兰参加国际决赛。大赛旨在提高新生代设计师的毛皮工艺技能、增进对毛皮的理解。大赛将全球新锐设计师的创意作品展示给具有国际影响力的观众,并通过传统和线上媒体提升国际曝光度,大赛往届入围者有些已在知名品牌工作,如Dolce & Gabbana、Louis Vuitton、Balmain。2015年获奖者Yusuf Kalem的作品则多次用于广告拍摄及Vogue意大利版、Harpers Bazaar美国版的专题拍摄。值得一提的是,中国新锐设计师令人惊叹的表现,在2017年全球赛事中囊获金奖(刘春辰)及银奖(孟思阳),即将于2018年10月2日在韩国首尔举办的ASIA REMIX 2018亚洲皮草设计大赛,男女装部分入围设计师共14位中,即有5位来自中国。协会将协助得奖新锐设计师,得到深度学习毛皮设计的机会及学习的赞助与支持。