“I am an animal lover, even though I wear fur” | WOMEN Magazine

“I fell in love instantly when I got my great aunt’s fur coat as a teenager. So soft, so beautifully finished … I was immediately sold. My dress style is eccentric and with a fur coat you don’t need much else to stand out.

Proud as a peacock, I walk down the street. My parents then warned me that activists could throw paint, but that never stopped me from wearing a fur coat. I now have more than six.

Activists

In Rotterdam, where I live, I don’t have a lot of critical eyes. But elsewhere, I am sometimes turned away in the street. When I was in London and it turned out that there was an anti-fur protest, I quickly ran away to a department store.

I understand these activists and I do not close my eyes to animal cruelty. In fact, I think that as a carnivore and a fur carrier you should know how a steak or a coat like that is made.

Hunt

That’s why I went hunting with locals in New Zealand. We drew game for meat and fur. Nothing was left unused. I like this. I would love to live in the desert and learn how to make my own fur coat.

What I have a problem with is the waste: an animal is only killed for its skin or if people still throw edible meat in the wheelie bin indiscriminately. I also never buy a new coat with fur, I always choose a vintage coat that I will give a third or fourth life for years to come. I wear them until the holes are on the inside.

My vegan friends sometimes have a hard time with my fur coat love, but they will never break their friendship. They know my principles. I am and always will be an animal lover; that I also wear fur does not bite me. “

This piece is in the new VROUW magazine (every Saturday at De Telegraaf).