This week, he spoke to New York Magazine about why his preference for fur is an informed choice, and what we can expect to see from him fashion-wise in the future:

You encountered a spot of trouble earlier this year for wearing a bit of fur on one of your skating outfits. Do you own a lot of fur?
I do have a lot of fur. I’m a big fan of fur. I’m not a fan of nutria or fake fur and I’ve taken a lot of flack for that, but it’s just a choice that I make. I travel a lot to Russia and it’s usually in winter when I’m in Russia, so you can’t walk around in a plastic coat and plastic boots when it’s minus 40 degrees. I’m from the country, I’ve gone hunting, so I know what happens. I know everything there is to know about the fur industry and I choose to wear fur.

He also reports he has a men’s clothing line in the works, about which he says: “I want Chanel quality, of course — a different price point, but of course Chanel quality.” Love him or hate him, you have to give it to him that he knows what he wants and where he stands on fashion ethics.

Emma Watson, the cherubic star of the Harry Potter movies, can add a new credit to her résumé: love interest in her musician boyfriend’s music video, “Say You Don’t Want It.”

In it, the fair-trade–loving starlet wears a short fur jacket that boasts a vintage vibe as they traipse through New York.

Ms. Watson has been outspoken in her support for People Tree, even collaborating on a fair-trade fashion collection for teens with the British label. So we find it interesting that she’s also showing love for vintage in this music video, presumably over which she had some creative control in the wardrobe department.

Keep on rockin’ in the free world, Emma.

In an article that appeared in the New York Post on the extreme shopping habits of five New York City women, one seasoned consumer offered some surprisingly sound advice:

“You’ve got to be socially responsible in terms of style, and that means recycling. Things like furs and skins, if you hoard them and don’t wear them, you are making it so that more needs to be produced. Sell it, give it away and get it back out there. That is a big part of being a good consumer.

“Never hoard!”

In other words: If you loved something once, set it free so someone else can love it again. From an article in which an executive assistant brags about spending $4,000 a month on clothes (even if it occasionally means she has to sell something to scrounge up money for rent), this is actually pretty reasonable.

So E.S. readers, how often do you purge your closets of items that aren’t getting enough love?

Break out the Brylcream and feast your eyes on the following:

• How does vintage inform our modern-day style? More than you might think when you go through photos from the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, and beyond.
• Animal products drum up a lot of controversy, but it’s important to remember that these items are built to last. Check out our gallery of high-fashion leather, fur, exotic skins, and other treasures that are likely older than you are.
• Our DIY Doyenne, the ever-fashionable Kara Cook, guides you through her latest upcycling project: deconstructing a vintage skirt.
• Ever wonder how clothing sizes have changed over the decades, and how we’ve ended up with the “vanity sizing” phenomenon? Get a history lesson (and some hope for the future) here.
• Finally, because we know you can’t get enough of vintage fashion, check out these stories from our archives.

Below is a sampling of decades-old garments and accessories currently for sale on our favorite consignment and vintage sites. Feast your eyes on these perfectly preserved pieces.

Click on any image to launch the slideshow.

There’s a lot to love about Canada. It’s the country that gave us Rachel McAdams, Lululemon, the lush setting of the Twilight films — and the bulk of the world’s eco-fashion talent.

In this issue, we explore the many ways that Canada is producing some of the most provocative yet wearable fashion — and whipping up a controversy once in a while.

• First, read up about the first ever Eco Fashion Week, and why it’s totally natural that Vancouver would play host.
• Madison noticed that Canada is rich in natural resources but doesn’t have easily farmed land. That might be why so many Canadian designers have gotten creative with recycled textiles.
• You may have heard about a European Union ban on Canadian seal fur coming from the controversial annual seal hunt. But what you may not have heard is what the ban means for the Canadian Inuit hunters who rely on selling the pelts to provide for their communities. If you want to learn something new today, check it out.
• Sometimes it seems like Canada’s main export is talent for Hollywood, and we have to give a round of applause to these celebrities who use their fame to bring the spotlight on a variety of environmental and social issues.
• Craving more Canada? You can always check out Seam Ripper, a compilation of stories from the Behind the Seams archive.

Namely, that the hunters who lead the seal hunt are not sadists, but practitioners of a native tradition.

“Inuit have been hunting seals and sustaining themselves for food, clothing, and trade for many generations,” says Mary Simon, the president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, an association that represents four Inuit regions in Canada. “No objective and fair minded person can conclude that seals are under genuine conservation threat or that Inuit hunting activities are less humane than those practiced by hunting communities all over the world.”

Certainly, Canada’s tradition of seal hunting is far from a decided case — even among other Canadians. Olympic officials were on the receiving end of a huge backlash for wanting to include a strip of seal fur on Canadian athletes’ uniforms. Animal rights groups like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) have spent millions on ad campaigns to make seal hunters look like monsters, with promises to “[shut] the cruel seal slaughter industry down.” Even fur-friendly designers like Johnny Sakalis say sealskin is “too exotic” to use.

The current trends are making things very difficult for the Inuit. Last year, the European Union voted to ban the import of sealskin, and as a result the price commanded per pelt has plummeted. (Earlier this month, the Inuit began legal proceedings to overturn the EU ban, and Canadian and Norwegian officials plan to take it up with the World Trade Organization.)

Bans have been attempted before — with disastrous results for native Canadians. Seal-hunting protests date back to the 1960s, and Europe banned the import of Canadian sealskin for the first time in 1983. The trade restriction gutted the Inuit economy; it took years before the tribes recovered financially.

With Europe now out of the market, the Inuit have had to begin to look elsewhere to peddle pelts. China — with a burgeoning status-conscious style set — has emerged as a frontrunner, although young women surveyed on the street were noncommittal when asked if they’d consider buying seal fur. Russian women are legendarily fond of fur, but Russia has its own — and far less regulated — seal hunt, so there’s little need to import from Canada.

So the chief problem remains: What do we do to protect Inuit traditions and livelihoods?

For those who can’t stomach the thought of wearing animal products for fashion, the issue may look like it has an easy answer. But the rest of us are faced with many ethical questions: Should seals be hunted? Is there a difference between less-cuddly cows bred for leather, and seals hunted in the wild? And is it right to strip a native community of its chief source of income, when so many other assets and opportunities have already been denied them?

Creative director Jay Manuel explained that fake designer goods cost the real fashion industry $9.5 billion per year, and to illustrate this concept, the models were trussed up in fake everything — purses, shoes, fur, eyelashes, hair extension, and even trompe l’oeil eye makeup.

While the economic argument is a valid one, we find the ethics issue far more compelling. Fakes have an undeniable social and environmental impact — from the sweatshop labor the manufacturing employs to the pollution spewed by the factories in the Guangdong province of China.

So while we believe ANTM’s intentions were noble, we aren’t sure that styling the models in fake everything necessary sends the appropriate message.

(Photo of Anslee courtesy of CWTV.com.)

U.S. mink imports were down 30% in 2009 versus 2008, according to the fur trade journal Sandy Parker Reports. Demand for the alligator and crocodile hides used in handbags and boots dipped 40% worldwide from the first quarter of 2008 to the same quarter of 2009, according to the Associated Press. Late last year, the New York Times reported that the U.S. alligator farming business is tanking.

Numerous retailers, including H&M and Overstock.com, have stopped selling exotic skins, such as snake, lizard and ostrich. And designers such as Donna Karan, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger have all pledged to stop using fur in their jackets, boots and handbags.

But what’s interesting is a contrasting article also in the L.A. Times that seems to point at the opposite conclusion, particularly among young stylesetters around the world:

But even a cursory glance at the fashion industry reveals that fur is still, for many, a hot commodity. And though furriers and the people who patronize them are less likely to shout their fur amour from the rooftops (it’s definitely not PC), selling, buying and wearing fur in the U.S. is still big business — $1.36 billion in 2008, according to the Fur Information Council of America. …

Counting all four major fashion cities — New York, Milan, Paris and London — there were more than 1,500 looks presented at the recent runway shows that included fur. That’s up from 385 from fall 2009, said Keith Kaplan, executive director for the Fur Information Council of America. “It was an unbelievable year for fur,” he added. “Young designers have come to feel and recognize that fur is a right of passage if you want to be a luxury brand.”

From where you sit, do you think the war on fur is winning or a lost cause?

For more ethical-fashion milestones, check out our new slideshow titled “Past, Present, Future.”

A full-length fur coat from Michael Kors's Fall/Winter 2010 collection at New York Fashion Week. (Courtesy of Style.com)

The truth is, all fashion designers share that knowledge of the future. Trends are determined in advance, by a year or more. Everything you see in a shop today was someone’s brainchild in 2008, most likely.

So in looking ahead to what’s next in the ethical-fashion movement, we need only to take stock of what’s going around us right now. And the single most-important trend to pop up in every fur was indisputably fur.

The various Fashion Weeks that wrapped up earlier this month revealed a breathtaking love luxe details, among both young up-and-comers and the stalwart design houses of Paris.

There’s nothing to conclude but that fur is having yet another moment, and with certification programs like Origin Assured and the forthcoming Truth in Fur Labeling Act, we applaud the industry shift to transparency. Whether you love fur or hate it, you have to admit that enabling more consumers to learn more about where fur comes from and make informed purchasing choices is commendable progress.

The future is bright indeed, but we would be remiss not to remember the past creative choices that led us to this moment. So in this issue, we ruminate on the past, present, and future of the eco-fashion movement.

Organic anti-aging products are blossoming in both the drugstore and Sephora’s beauty aisles, so eco-consumers have more options than ever to reclaim youthful skin without resorting to serious chemicals. We took a few cult favorites for a test drive; read our reviews here.

The history of the eco-fashion movement has its roots in the 1970s (ironically the same decade that polyester saw its heyday). Check out our slideshow of milestones in ethical fashion history.

Madison unveils her inner sci-fi geek with this article on the reality of futuristic fashion. It’s a can’t-miss article — you might just find yourself Netflixing a copy of Star Trek.

And interpreting the subject matter literally, Kara reviews ethical watch options. Select your next timepiece from one of her finds.

Finally, waste a little time revisiting some of our most popular blog posts in Seam Ripper. And leave your thoughts in the comments! We always love to hear from you.