Carol Christian Poell 1998 Fencing Jacket (1 of 1)

I am a leather fencing jacket. Nothing too special, but I am certainly not boring. Before I was turned into a garment for the sake of what they apparently call “fashion”, I had a life of my own. I remember my days before becoming a product, it was much different back then. Roaming the fields of Austria, bathing in the sun, swimming in the mud, and enjoying the simple freedom of being a pig. My life took a turn when a man by the name of Carol Christian Poell was introduced to me. The second that this crazy man looked me in the eyes I could tell that he was up to no good. I heard rumors amongst the other pigs that the crazy man was a designer, I really hoped that I would not become a design of his. Little did I know that I would become the subject of a new leather dying technique exclusive to this insane man’s fashion label. I woke up the next morning with a painful and strange sensation in my back, that is when I realized it was the start of this crazy man’s experiment. The man had injected some sort of dye into my veins, making them visible from the outside of my body.

That is the story of why I am no longer a pig.

I now live my life hanging up in the collection of some fashion freak, I barely get to see the light of day and a certainly will never see the mountains of Austria again. I was a happy pig but now I am a fencing jacket that will never be used as a fencing jacket.

The suffering of other animals that have become essential elements of the fashion industry are hidden and ignored. Carol Christian Poell is not particularly evil by the standards of the fashion world. Whether it’s mohair harvested from the backs of Moroccan sheep or fur stripped from Canadian wolves, the suffering of other animals in the fashion industry is not highlighted in the final designs. My suffering as well as the cruelty of Carol Christian Poell is made apparent by the appearance of the garment that I have become.