Buckingham Palace Guardsmen May Get Designer Fur-Free Hats
September 4, 2008 · Print This Article
Earlier this week, beloved British comedian Ricky Gervais (of the original Office and Extras, in case you live under a rock or are severely comedically deprived) made headlines when he wrote to Prime Minister Gordon Brown asking him to find an alternative to using fur in the Buckingham Palace Guardesmen’s bearskin hats. After the news got out, some people started joking about having famed PETA ally and vegetarian designer Stella McCartney to design new, cruelty-free hats. It seems that those jokes might have something to them after all.
From Ecorazzi:
This week, Baroness Taylor, the Minister for Defence procurement (and in charge of acquiring all military equipment), will meet with PETA to discuss synthetic materials or other replacements for the bear fur. PETA has tapped British designer Vivienne Westwood to come up with something “innovative”, while Stella McCartney and the US designer Marc Bouwer have both agreed to produce caps if commissioned by the MoD.
It currently takes one black bear for every hat worn by the Buckingham guard. 50-100 new hats are needed every year. Over the past five years the MoD has spent more than $600,000 on bear skins. If this meeting proves successful — and it looks like there’s a serious chance — then a major step forward in saving the black bear of North America will have been taken.
There are so many humane alternatives out there, and while some may argue that the hats are an important and sentimental link to the past, we’re finally entering an age of consciousness and responsibility. We can’t wait to see what the designers come up with. Thanks, Ricky!
Link [Ecorazzi]
Photo credit: Metro.co.uk
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Oy, they get the skins they need from an annual Canadian bear cull, where there are an overabundance of bears so they kill a certain amount anyway.
[...] year $600,000 is spent on procuring hundreds of black bears for their fur, and then used as hats. How appalling a [...]