Faux fur made a bold comeback at Paris Women’s Fashion Week 2025, thanks to the popularity of the “mob wife” style trend and advances in manufacturing technology that make synthetic fur look remarkably authentic. Its strong presence on the catwalks and high street signals that this trend is here to stay.
During the Fall/Winter 2025 shows over the last 10 days, faux fur appeared in nearly every form imaginable. From stoles and long, luxurious coats to embellishments on jackets and accessories, the once glamorous look associated with mob wives, Jackie Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor, and European aristocrats has been revived with a modern twist.
The high-quality imitation fur has become so realistic that many observers now struggle to tell it apart from real fur. This shift has provided a significant boost for manufacturers like Ecopel, a French-based company that supplies synthetic fur to around 300 brands.
“Since last winter, every brand—from luxury houses to mainstream labels like Zara—has been offering an unprecedented number of faux fur pieces,” said Ecopel CEO and founder, Christopher Sarfati.
The trend for faux fur had waned for a time due to concerns about animal welfare, with major brands like Saint Laurent, Gucci, and Chanel dropping real fur entirely. London Fashion Week even introduced a ban on fur on the runway.
While real fur is still allowed in Paris, charities like PETA and the Brigitte Bardot Foundation protested last week in the French capital against the “return of fur,” fearing the rise of faux fur might encourage the use of real animal skins once again.
“I think faux fur is cooler. It’s more beautiful. And we don’t approve of animal cruelty,” said Bryn Taubensee and Patric DiCaprio, designers of the U.S.-based Vaquera label, which presented a fur-heavy collection at Paris Fashion Week.
Leading French fashion journalist Matthieu Bobard Deliere noted that only a handful of brands still use real fur on the runway, a sentiment echoed by Ecopel, which tracks the market. According to the company, 89 percent of fur at Milan Fashion Week was faux, compared to 62 percent in New York.
Two brands at Paris Fashion Week—Hodakova, led by Swedish designer Ellen Hodakova Larsson, and Gabriela Hearst from Uruguay—featured real fur in their collections, both of which upcycled existing skins.
Some designers argue that upcycling real fur is more environmentally friendly, as it avoids the use of faux fur made from synthetic materials like polyester. “Repurposed vintage mink was unstitched and then painstakingly reassembled by hand in a family-run atelier,” said Hearst about the mink coat featured in her show.
Meanwhile, Parisian fur store Sam Rone reported increased sales since last year, with second-hand fur in high demand, particularly among Gen Z, which has a growing interest in vintage fashion.
For consumers looking for ethical alternatives, there’s hope in the development of non-plastic, plant-based faux fur. Ecopel has pioneered a 100-percent plant-based faux fur, offering a solution to the ethical dilemmas surrounding both real and synthetic furs.
“Brands will no longer be able to say, ‘We don’t use faux fur because it’s made of polyester and petroleum,’” Sarfati explained.
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