Tomorrow night I’ll be helping out my friend Kerry from Bayou Salvage by modeling for her in the Righteous Fur Fashion Show.
Righteous Fur is a project started by my friend Cree McCree to promote nutria fur as a “guilt-free” alternative to other fur products. You see, the nutria are a big problem here in south Louisiana… they were imported from Argentina and introduced to the area in the 1930s. As often happens with non-native animal species, they made it into the wild and have been wreaking havoc on our (quickly vanishing) wetlands ever since. They rip up and eat the marsh grasses and displace native animals, and so the Wildlife and Fisheries department offers hunters a bounty to keep the problem under control.
It’s a tricky issue… in the past local chefs have tried to introduce nutria meat to diners, and now with Righteous Fur, local artists and fashion designers are trying to offer their own solutions. I honestly haven’t decided quite how I feel about this whole thing… I’m of course happy to help Kerry out by modeling for her and I want to support all of my friends who are working with this project. And obviously I am up for anything that will help restore and protect our vanishing wetlands. But the nutria are nasty little buggers. See more about them on Wikipedia. And while I generally am not a big fan of fur (vintage is alright I suppose, new fur is a no-no), I can see that this project could at the very least be a great way to raise awareness of the nutria problem.
You can find out more about the Righteous Fur project at their website, in this article on NOLA.com, or shop for nutria fashions in the Righteous Fur Etsy shop.
In New Orleans and want to come see the show? Check it out tomorrow night, Friday, January 8th at the Marigny Theatre and AllWays Lounge (2240 St. Claude Ave., New Orleans). Doors are at 8 pm, and the show is at 8:30 pm. Tickets are $10 at the door or $15 for reserved tables and VIP seating. For more info call 504-269-3982.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
It’s definitely a grey area for me too…. because I think that it’s unnatural and bad for an eco-system to be destroyed due to an “unnatural” out of control population… but then I’m not big on fur either…
Needless to say, it’s an intriguing concept, and I’ll try to make it over there!
I added some pictures on Flickr from the show… http://www.flickr.com/photos/uproar/sets/72157623175052390/