Michael Kors launched his first eponymous line more than 25 years ago, when Michael Kors womenswear first appeared at Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman. Since then, he's become a major player in the fashion industry, known for his classic yet modern clothes.
However, with his recent work as a judge on Bravo's
Project Runway, and high-profile celebrities like Jessica Simpson frequently spotted wearing his clothes, he's achieved greater visibility with a new generation.
Unfortunately, he's also gained some unwelcome notoriety lately; not for his icy critique of any
Project Runway designer, but for the way he's treating some four-legged creatures in the name of fashion.
Your Take
Bijou said:
You could call Mengele and Goring "designers" of sorts too. Kors, Basso, Escada, and others of their ilk, ...
Guest said:
It's appalling to see these "designers" still using fur, after they have repeatedly been made aware of the ...
Kors has already been the focus of one animal rights' group's ire. Earlier this year, the Humane Society asked the Federal Trade Commission to fine designers who mislabeled clothes that contained dog fur. Since then, Kors stopped using dog fur. He does, however, still use rabbit and broadtail fur in some of his collections.
Neither of those types of fur was used in the Spring 2008 line that he recently showed at Bryant Park as part of New York City's Fashion Week. Nevertheless, a group of protesters from an animal advocacy organization called New York City Animal Rights still put on a peaceful protest outside the show.
One of the participants in the protest explained the rationale for protesting the line even if the controversial animal products weren't being used. Santos Lopez, the founder of the animal rights group said, "The animals that will be used in his fall collection are already suffering in cages, and we only get a chance to speak to him twice a year. I don't want to look like we're bullying people, but these designers are celebrating the deaths of animals."
Whether or not this kind of pressure will impact the
Project Runway judge is hard to say, but the outcome won't be known until his fall collection shows sometime next year.
- Leslie Seaton, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Sources: TMZ, MSNBC
(Image courtesy of Bravo)