In the heart of Paris, in front of the entrance to a fashion school, two students took a cigarette break, fur coats draped over their shoulders. “It’s vintage,” one of them warned when approached. “I bought it at a thrift store. I wonder who used to own it. Who knows, maybe Marguerite Duras or Françoise Sagan?” This winter, the streets of the capital are teeming with fur coats – often brightly colored, sometimes oversized – worn by people of all ages.

Yet, until recently, wearing such attire openly in the city was considered socially shameful. Today, when the fur is real, it most often comes from pieces found secondhand or taken out of closets (or at least, that is what those wearing it are quick to clarify when asked about their outfit). Occasionally, but this is rarer, it is new, purchased from a handful of maisons that continue to uphold traditional craftsmanship. More often, it is imitation: The fur-free market, which encompasses a wide range of realities and price points depending on the brand, is booming.

“A short time ago, wearing animal fur – even if it was bought secondhand or inherited from family – was considered morally unacceptable,” said Alexia Tronel, a sustainable development expert and co-founder of the think tank Racine, which explores possible futures for the luxury sector. “Today, people no longer dare to judge, because we can no longer really tell the difference between real and fake.” This ambiguity has helped, among other factors, to legitimize the return of this aesthetic to the forefront, without erasing the symbols associated with it: power, opulence, ostentation, but also transgression.

Impossible to tell the real from the fake

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