AR-News: Todd Oldham: Design Against Fur

[Political Animal]

TODD OLDHAM ENCOURAGES UNITED STATES STUDENTS TO:

	Design Against Fur!


	Internationally Renowned Designer Advocates
Compassion in Fashion
	

	WASHINGTON (February 17, 2004) – Todd Oldham, the
internationally 
renowned fashion and lifestyle designer, is supporting
the second annual 
Design Against Fur! competition, a worldwide student
poster design 
contest sponsored by The Fur Free Alliance.  In
Canada, the Montreal-based 
Global Action Network is hosting the competition. In
the United States, 
the Washington D.C.-based, The Humane Society of the
United States 
(HSUS) is the host. Oldham will be one of the judges
for the U.S. contest. 


	Based in New York City, Todd Oldham has been
designing clothing, 
products and living spaces for 20 years. Guided by a
colorful, modern design 
philosophy Oldham has designed clothes for the likes
of Julia Roberts 
and Uma Thurman, a Home collection for Target, The
Hotel in Miami, 
wristwatches for Fossil, The Hotel Of South Beach
Hotel Miami Beach and most 
recently a mod 62-piece furniture collection for the
famed La-Z-Boy 
furniture manufacturer. He has also hosted shows on
MTV and appears 
regularly on NBC’s "The Today Show." 


	A long-standing opponent of the use of fur in
fashion, Oldham stated: 
“The Design Against Fur! contest is a forum for
young, up-and-coming 
art and design students to put their creative talents
to work on behalf 
of animals. An important part of living life is
demonstrating 
compassion for others, animals and the environment."


	Design Against Fur! is open to all students enrolled
in a recognized 
college or university during the winter of 2003 and
the spring of 2004 
who would like to design an innovative anti-fur
poster. Prizes for the 
winning entries include $1000 for the United States
winner, $500 for the 
runner up and $250 for third place. The top three U.S.
entries will 
automatically be entered into the international
competition where they can 
win 5000 euros (about $5,500 USD) and a trip to a
European capital. The 
message to be conveyed in this year’s poster is: 


	When you buy or wear fur trim you are contributing to
the pain and 
suffering of animals. Consumers have the power to stop
the killing of 
animals for fur trim. Buying garments with fur trim is
unnecessary and 
unfashionable in this modern age.


	In an effort to reverse its declining fortunes during
the last decade, 
the fur industry has inundated the market with cheap
fur trim. 
According to Zipporah Weisberg, Global Action
Network’s campaign manager, 
“Many people are misled into thinking fur-trim is
made from the 
‘leftovers’ of full-length fur coats. To the
contrary, more animals are 
used each year for fur trim than fur coats and 90
percent of farmed foxes 
are killed for fur trim alone.”

	
	The HSUS applauds the world’s leading animal
protection 
organizations for promoting this competition. John
Grandy, senior vice president of 
The HSUS stated: “It’s the younger generation that
sets fashion 
trends and the Design Against Fur! competition helps
them become informed 
compassionate trend setters.”


	The deadline to register for the competition is March
1, 2004. An 
awards ceremony to announce the winners will take
place in Toronto in late 
May 2004. Students can find out more about the
competition and register 
online at www.gan.ca <file://www.gan.ca> .
	
	About The HSUS 
	The HSUS is the nation’s largest animal protection
organization with 
over eight million members and constituents. The HSUS
is a mainstream 
voice for animals, with active programs in companion
animals and equine 
protection, wildlife and habitat protection, animals
in research and 
farm animals and sustainable agriculture. The HSUS has
protected all 
animals through legislation, litigation,
investigation, education, advocacy 
and fieldwork. The non-profit organization, which
celebrates its 50th 
anniversary in 2004, is based in Washington, DC and
has 10 regional 
offices across the country.

	About the Fur Free Alliance 
	The Fur Free Alliance (FFA) is an international
consortium of animal 
protection groups. For further information please go
to: 
www.inFURmation.com <http://www.inFURmation.com> . The
Design Against Fur! competition 
information can be accessed at the FFA site in a
number of languages.
	
	About the Global Action Network 
	Global Action Network (GAN) is a nationally
incorporated, Canadian 
non-profit organization, dedicated to animal and
environment protection. 
We believe that animals, the environment, and human
welfare are 
inextricably linked. Simply put, animal abuse and the
destruction of our 
environment has an ultimate consequence - the
degradation of the human 
species. An official member of the World Society for
the Protection of 
Animals and the Fur Free Alliance, GAN campaigns
against the fur trade 
through education, grassroots organizing, coalition
building, and political 
networking.


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