Raymond Hall/GC Images Karl Lagerfeld understands some fashion lovers will never wear fur.
But he also knows that fur isn't just a lavish accessory for some consumers. It's an industry for many Americans.
"The problem with fur…For me, as long as people eat meat and wear leather, I don't get the message," Lagerfeld told the New York Times in a candid new interview. "It's very easy to say no fur, no fur, no fur, but it's an industry."
He added, "Who will pay for all the unemployment of the people if you suppress the industry of the fur? The hunters in the north for the sable, they have no other job, there is nothing else to do. Those organizations who are much against it, they are not Bill Gates."
Sounds like someone is not so sympathetic to the anti-fur cause, right? Not so fast…
"I'm very sympathetic. I hate the idea of killing animals in a horrible way, but I think all that improved a lot," he explained. "I think a butcher shop is even worse. It's like visiting a murder. It's horrible, no? So I prefer not to know it."
Just last week, the world-famous designer announced that he would be adding a show of "haute fourrure" or couture fur for fur-centric Fendi during the Paris couture collections in July.
"It's not a celebration. It's a new start. In the past, Fendi did only fur. Then they started to do ready-to-wear and funny fur [i.e., faux fur], but this was 40 years ago," he shared. "Now, it's time to do the highest level of couture fourrure. But better to do it during haute couture because it's the right place to show it to the right people."
And for those who don't agree with his plans, he frankly doesn't care.
"There are not too many people with an opinion I care for," he admitted. "I'm not crazy to discuss fashion with men. I couldn't care less about their opinion." Sorry, he's not sorry, guys in the industry.