2.3. Feathers Today

Cruelty to animals has been a burning issue since luxury fashion houses collectively agreed to stop using fur for their runway collections.

Feathers are now considered an animal by-product, just as leather is a by-product of the meat industry. For those animals where feathers are not a by-product, there really is no kind method to pluck them from the animal, even if death does not occur.

While live plucking is legally prohibited in the European Union, it is still possible to “harvest” down during the birds’ natural molting cycles. However, the animals are vulnerable to being injured during the process and it is actually very difficult to identify whether live-plucking has taken place.

According to Peta, “Feathers are not humanely obtained from animals. They probably come from terrified birds that were killed for their meat or skin. Buying feathers made from feathers supports the cruel meat and exotic fur industries, because many farmers who raise birds for food or clothing make an extra profit by selling the feathers.

Echoing the feather-lust for the rarest and most expensive plumes at the height of the plume boom, the increased rarity and expense of endangered and protected species in today’s fashion market ensures they remain sought after (and fought over) by the world’s chicest fashion houses and designers.

While the more reputable fashion houses insist they source such feathers from antique feather dealers such as Lemarie, demand for fine feathers generates a black market trade in endangered and protected species like the birds of paradise who, if the latest reports prove accurate, are now said to be on a ‘flight to oblivion’.

And this is precisely why designers and the buying public care not to give thought to the lives and deaths of the birds whose feathers embellish their creations and bodies. While plumassiers like Lemarie are enabled, by the likes of Channel, to bow out gracefully in the style and colour of the feathers used for Lagerfled’s costume, which were said to invoke “the pink light of a beautiful sunset; the end of the day” – the birds that supply the feathers apparently simply ‘drop dead’ out of sight and out of mind.

Although the feather industry is now mostly regulated, some activists argue that it is still unethical and compare it to the fur trade. Organizations like Responsible Down Standard ensure that certified brands such as Aritzia and H&M use only feathers that are collected (self-shed) or a by-product of food production.