Sales of mink coats and other fur goods in Britain have halved in the last two years amid a concerted campaign by animal rights activists opposed to the trade.
New figures compiled by the Department of Trade and Industry chart the dramatic decline of what was once one of Britain's most prestigious and profitable businesses.
They show that the biggest traders in the British industry sold only ú11m worth of goods in the first half of 1989, compared with an annual figure of ú47m in 1987 and ú80m in 1984.
Fur traders have blamed the decline on a series of mild winters and changes in fashion that have seen a move away from conspicuous consumption. But animal rights activists argue that these have only added to a fundamental change in public attitude brought about by consumer campaigns against the cruelty of the trade.
Their campaigns have focused on the factory-farming methods used to produce 92 per cent of fur in Britain, and the pain and cruelty involved in the use of steel leg-hold traps to catch animals in the wild.
Dozens of shops throughout the country have stopped selling furs because of declining demand, and a campaign of intimidation by militant animal liberationists that has included bomb attacks on stores in several cities.
More moderate groups such as Lynx, which is opposed to violence, have used sophisticated advertising and the support of celebrities such as Paul and Linda McCartney, David Bailey, Twiggy, Neil Kinnock and David Owen to hammer home the message.
The result has been that thousands of women will no longer wear their coats in public for fear of humiliation, models are paid extra for the social stigma of wearing mink coats and many refuse even to touch them.
Kate O'Mara, the actress, now writes her refusal to wear fur into her contracts, after she was forced to wear it in episodes of Dynasty. Marie Helvin, a model who has always refused to wear fur, welcomes the stigma that is now attached to it in parts of the fashion industry.
"I just don't believe in wearing a dead animal on my back, but for a long time the only way I could avoid it was by pretending I was allergic to fur," she said. "Now models have the option of whether they will wear it."
The change in public attitudes, which has partly come on the back of the rapid growth of interest in the environment, is expected to bring further sweeping changes to the high street this year. In the next few weeks Harrods, Britain's most internationally renowned department store, will announce that it is closing its fur department.
The decision will leave Selfridges as the only large department store selling furs in the capital. But the Oxford Street shop and other surviving members of the trade face a difficult future as the trend away from furs threatens to hit their lucrative tourist and export markets even harder.
Until now, only Britain and The Netherlands have been seriously affected, but there are signs that women in other parts of the world are beginning to turn away from the idea of wearing furs.
In the United States, which accounts for about a third of the $6billion world market, the trade is struggling to keep fur in fashion for the first time this century. In cities such as New York, some women have become so frightened at the prospect of being accosted in the street by violent anti-fur protesters that fashion designers have started producing ranges that include bullet-proof mink coats.
Annual sales in America have remained stable at just over $1.8billion in the last four years, despite a vitriolic advertising campaign against the use of leg-iron traps which has included such messages as, "Get a feel for fur - slam your fingers in a car door".
But this winter the issue has shot to the centre of attention as a growing number of Hollywood celebrities the traditional arbiters of fashion have announced that they are never going to wear fur again. The latest to announce that they are hanging up their fur coats for good are Liza Minnelli and Elton John.
The rich and famous have also had the issue thrust at them because their winter playground, the ski resort of Aspen in Colorado, is holding a referendum next month on whether to become the world's first "fur-free city".
Film stars sporting their silver fox coats, raccoon caps and fur-trimmed boots are already said to receive unusually slow service in many of Aspen's expensive restaurants. The city council, which has banned the sale of all furs caught in leg-hold traps, is now asking the inhabitants to vote on the proposal for a wider ban, which would close four furriers and force two dozen ski-accessory shops to change their stocks.
Lynx has opened an office in Los Angeles and is planning to start a similar publicity campaign in Western Europe, using its "Rich bitch. Poor bitch" poster depicting a woman in a fur coat and the bloodstained body of a fox.
Carol McKenna, the group's campaign director, also plans to turn the spotlight on establishment institutions in Britain such as the House of Lords and universities, and on senior judges who use ermine and other fur on their robes. She will write to each member of the Lords explaining the issues and asking for support. Similar letters will go to the universities although most, including Oxford which used to have rabbit fur on its robes, now use synthetic materials.
The campaign will further damage the British Fur Trade Association, which has lost more than half its retail members since Lynx started four years ago. The association has been forced into an increasingly desperate defence of its business, which has held an important position in the City of London since at least 1100.
David Liney, its spokesman, argues that furs are the only things that will keep people warm in extremely cold weather and are farmed in exactly the same way as poultry and meat in the food industry.
But he gets rattled at the very idea of another journalist planning to write about the trade. Last week he said that only a tiny minority of fanatics were against the idea of wearing fur, but then admitted that opinion polls showed a much larger proportion, particularly among the young.
"Young people are terrified about what's going on in the world, and if they were properly informed they wouldn't be quite so frightened," he said. "A lot of this is to do with celebrities jumping on the bandwagon to get publicity. Young people are being brainwashed by the media."
