Changing Landscapes
A cartography on the luxury mink fur coat industry
[ critical and speculative design ]
Undertaking a detailed investigation into the mink farming industry in Spain, and focusing on the production of fur coats, this project explores the different actors and environments involved in development of these garments, taking a critical stance on the luxury fashion sector.
Through a comprehensive analysis, it sheds light on the far-reaching effects of an industry that remains highly coveted despite its enduring negative impact. Complimentary to the analysis and cartography of processes, the proposal plays on the irony of repurposing the ghosted spaces of mink farms to reintegrate them into their environment through a hatched approach, inspired by patchwork fur coats.
The research
Through a critical lens, the project analyzes the luxury fashion sector, highlighting the complex and often overlooked consequences of mink farming for the production of luxury fashion coats. By dissecting all the moving parts behind a single coat, the project maps the environments, actors, and processes that underlie each garment.
Environmentally, it examines how the industry displaces native species and contributes to waste contamination. Additionally, it investigates the impact on workers, local communities, and international policy, ultimately circling back to the central actors of the cartography, the animals involved, emphasizing the ethical concerns of animal cruelty in the fashion industry.
The proposal
This project uses a speculative and ironic approach to address the abandoned mink farms left after bans on real fur farming. These ghosted spaces, filled with outdated machinery, cages, and materials, carry a history of cruelty. The proposal suggests dismantling the farms in phases, repurposing materials to transform the spaces into mink conservation zones. It also advocates for a gradual shift in fur coat production, playing on the concept of the "X% allure," which references the industry's obsession with 100% real fur. This transition aims to increase the percentage of synthetic fur, ultimately seeking to eliminate cruel practices. By using hatching and patchwork to repurpose both the spaces and the coats, the project invites the industry to adopt a more ethical and sustainable approach.
