The Scottish Mail on Sunday

Animal lovers go hopping mad over celebrity craze for KANGAROO FUR SLIPPERS

- By Nancy Newman

TO THE untutored eye, they might look more Ena Sharples than haute couture.

But despite their dubious connotatio­ns, the fur-lined loafer-cum-slipper is THE fashion must-have of the autumn.

And if the wearers feel a bounce in their step, that’s because they are made, controvers­ially, with a kangaroo fur lining – which has been condemned by animal welfare groups.

The furry footwear was first sighted at the Gucci Spring/Summer 2016 runway show and immediatel­y became an essential fashion accessory for celebritie­s undeterred by the debate they have sparked.

Sienna Miller has been seen around town in hers – and Alexa Chung sported a pair during Milan fashion week.

Shades Of Grey actress Dakota Johnson wears them out to events, as does model Kendall Jenner.

The cognoscent­i – keen not to be classed as slipper-wearers – have even given the style its own name: the sliced loaf.

And they’re not just for female fashionist­as. Screen heart-throb Tom Hiddleston wore a specially branded pair of Gucci’s £650 Princetown loafers in his latest campaign for the brand.

Now the high street chains are attempting to cash in on the concept, with stores such as Zara creating more affordable imitations that carry a £45.99 price tag.

‘We’ve seen a phenomenal response to the backless loafer,’ says Net-a-Porter’s retail fashion director, Lisa Aiken. ‘They’re the new off-duty shoe of choice.’

It is the Gucci slippers that have attracted the opprobrium of the animal rights campaigner­s.

They are furious that the fur lining is made from the skin of Australian wild kangaroos, whose hide is prized for its combinatio­n of softness and strength.

Dr Daniel Ramp, of the Centre for Compassion­ate Conservati­on at the University of Technology, Sydfrom ney, denounced the shoes, saying: ‘Using kangaroo fur to produce fashion footwear is exploitati­on, especially since population­s are in decline.

‘The killing of these animals is inhumane, there is collateral damage and kangaroo culling has a large social cost on the remaining families and their young. Kangaroos are not objects – they are highly intelligen­t social animals’.

A Gucci spokesman claimed that the fur was an ‘environmen­tally friendly’ choice, saying: ‘Kangaroo harvest is one of the best examples of a well-managed harvest programme, and thus can be classified under our guidelines as a sustainabl­e fur.’

Both Nike and Adidas have come under fire in recent years for their use of kangaroo leather in football boots, worn by star players including David Beckham.

It was reported in 2014 that, after being sent a video of young kangaroos being violently separated their mothers during a ‘harvest’, Beckham ditched his.

By the end of the year, both brands had pledged to move away from the use of the kangaroo products.

However, the new controvers­y sparked by Gucci’s creation hasn’t yet put off fashion’s most fastidious followers, with the coveted footwear selling out almost immediatel­y in high-end department stores across the globe.

And even the designer replicas are proving difficult to find on the high street. London stores are reporting that their copycat carpet slippers are selling out as quickly as the Italian originals.

There is hope, however, for those who want to follow fashion but can’t quite bring themselves to wear their bedroom slippers to the local pub.

Gucci, Alexander McQueen and Bally have released loafers with a ‘collapsibl­e’ heel, which can be folded down Coronation Streetstyl­e, or worn traditiona­lly at the first sign of ridicule.

 ??  ?? COSY: Actor Tom Hiddleston, right, promotes the £650 Gucci fur loafers ENA SHARPLES CHIC: Slipper fans, from left, Kendall Jenner, Dakota Johnson, Sienna Miller and Alexa Chung. Left: The classic Gucci version
COSY: Actor Tom Hiddleston, right, promotes the £650 Gucci fur loafers ENA SHARPLES CHIC: Slipper fans, from left, Kendall Jenner, Dakota Johnson, Sienna Miller and Alexa Chung. Left: The classic Gucci version

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