Summer might be almost upon us but that means the fashion industry has already decided what we will all be wearing next winter and fur is back.

At Paris Fashion Week Chanel’s autumn/winter 2010/11 Yeti chic collection used only faux fur and the show featured a 265 tonne iceberg in the middle of the Grand Palais to highlight the issue of global warming.

The fashion house’s head designer Karl Lagerfeld said: “Global warming is the issue of our times. Fashion needs to address it.”

Lagerfeld had previously been against using fake furs because of concerns about their quality, but said:  “It’s so good now, technical advances are so perfect you can hardly tell fake fur from the real thing.”

Animal rights groups like PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) have long been campaigning for the end to the use of real fur and other animal products and have been championing fake fur as an alternative and see Lagerfeld’s use of faux fur as a victory for their cause.

However the fur industry claims that real fur is actually the greener option as it is a natural resource and longer lasting than fake furs.

Most synthetic furs are made using chemicals like petroleum in factories which pollute the environment and the product itself is not biodegradable and ends up in landfill sites.

Kingston University third year fashion student Nicole Bradshaw has been using fur in her final project and recently won a British Fur Trade Association competition to learn from leading Norwegian furriers Saga as part of a campaign to get more young designers involved with fur.

She said fur was sustainable and views it as an investment:  “Real fur is better for the environment. A fur coat lasts a lifetime so spending one thousand pounds once every 25 or 30 years is better than buying ten new coats at £50 each.”

Fashion lecturer at Kingston University and designer Joe Bates said:  “A fur coat is the longest living garment that exists and not like anything else – the same garment can be generations of the same family.”

But he also stresses the importance of knowing where fur comes from and only using fur which has been properly farmed, registered and traceable.

He said:  “If students bring in something they find on a market I point out that could be cat or dog and usually makes them think.”

Bradshaw said at Saga Group farms: “They really look after the animals well and it is in their interests as the better the animals are looked after the better the quality of the fur.”

The Saga Group support the UN Global Compact which commits them to taking steps to become environmental and are proud of their ethical farming policy and said on their website:  “Transparency is the key value the Saga Group uses to assure the fur and fashion industry and the consumer that the Saga Furs label stands for responsible fur”.

The British Fur Trade Association represents 95 per cent of the British fur industry and is a member of the International Fur Trade Federation which promotes strict codes of practice as well as complying with European and international welfare standards.

In 2007 the International Fur Trade Federation launched the Origin Assured labelling system to guarantee welfare of the animals and make it clearly label furs which have been humanely produced and is supported by leading designers like Roberto Carvalli and Oscar de la Renta.

Real fur products are still a controversial subject but it is important to be aware of all the environmental and ethical issues.