[DiamondSmiles]

Petite Mort: Precious Ethical Furs Handmade From Roadkill

Kimberley Mok
Living / Sustainable Fashion

December 21, 2014

"Ethical fur," may seem like an oxymoron, especially in light of greenwashing campaigns that attempt to obfuscate the full environmental impact and inhumane practices of the mainstream fur industry. Nevertheless, there are alternatives, and we've seen designers use roadkill for fur clothing rather than raise captive animals, and it may make more sense than you may initially think.

According to Culture Change, around 1 million animals are killed on American roads every day, (or approximately 365 million animals a year).

The fur industry, on the other hand, kills 50 million animals per year. So that's a lot of roadkill that's essentially going to waste -- a fact that's spurred the recent rise of, "roadkill cuisine," and businesses like Wayland, Massachusetts based ethical fur company, Petite Mort.

Founder, Pamela Paquin, a former global sustainability consultant who grew up on a dairy farm, handcrafts luxurious items out of dead animals that she finds on the roads. She calls it, "accidental fur," working with local highway agencies and animal control departments to source the dead animals, which have ranged from fox, beaver, bears, raccoons, otters, deer, mink and more. She works with local taxidermists to process the skins, which are then shipped off to a tannery in Idaho, one of the few places that can handle partial pelts. The website explains:

Accidental furs are loving resurrections of our fuzzy wild neighbors who have met with an untimely or natural death – it is sensible Yankee ethics at their best.

Each luxurious piece is hand made, individually numbered, custom tailored to each owner’s specifications, befitting an heirloom investment.

Paquin's furry gloves, leg warmers, neck muffs and hats aren't cheap, ranging from USD $380 to $1,000, but the demand for her one of a kind pieces has been very strong.

Best of all, a percentage of sales goes to Critical Pathways, a project that works to provide local wildlife safe underpasses to traverse highways.

There's a spiritual aspect to the company's practices, too; according to Modern Farmer, in honour of her Native American roots, when Paquin takes the skinned carcasses back to the woods, she says a, “giveaway prayer, a prayer of thanks. You’re thanking the animal spirit.”

It's a promising and respectful concept that at least attempts to go full circle, making cherished, beautiful items out of animal lives that would have been otherwise violently ended and wasted. Check out more over at Petite Mort.

Photos Petite Mort

[Xfactor]

Nice! No more permits. I found 150 American Martens roadkills

[candice81]

thats a good idea

[DiamondSmiles]

Originally Posted by candice81 ↗

thats a good idea

And you could still enjoy that possum stew!

[Sharon]

Good idea really, why not as no cruelty involved and utilisation of dead animal parts is something I've no problem with.

I mean, we all wear leather for starters and that's a by-product - even though from the meat industry.