MISSION
PINNACLE: Reinvent The Icon is an image-driven initiative consisting of fashion industry professionals from all areas of the fashion world who are clarifying the changed meaning of fur within the context of our current culture.
PINNACLE produces editorial stories, and works with informed designers, models, and other professionals to create accessories and various forms of visual art consistent with an interest in:
- Aesthetics.
- Providing critical commentary about animal fur.
- Exposing aspects of fur production and marketing which are intentionally hidden or obscured.
- Shifting the out-dated, whitewashed and greenwashed attitude toward, and meaning of fur garments.
- Calling for personal and corporate accountability concerning the cruelty inherent in all fur production.
Long before Norway banned fur from Oslo Fashion Week, before Christi Turlington would “Rather Go Naked“ for PeTA- even before David Bailey won a Gold Award in Television & Cinema Advertising in 1986 for his commercial “Dumb Animals” – the original anti-fur accessory was a pin designed in the 1970’s with the message “Real People 
Wear Fake Fur” for the World Wildlife Foundation. Actress-legend Mia Farrow and Academy Award-winning composer André George Previn appeared in some of the first anti-fur ads for the same campaign in the 70′s. But even as early as the 1920s, when raccoon fur coats were all the rage, Broadway starlet Minnie Maddern Fiske took up vocal opposition to fur on behalf of animals trapped or farmed for their pelts.
In the 70′s and 80′s, the organization Lynx (which later became Respect for Animals) released some controversial ad campaigns utilizing fashion models and industry photographers and filmmakers to appeal to the fashion crowd (below).
The more modern, classic No-Fur pin is iconic; almost as recognizable as Milton Glaser’s I ♥ NY logo. And that’s why we love it!
Many thought the fur industry was dead by the 90s, but thanks to a multimillion-dollar marketing strategy, they’ve made a huge, fast, and widespread attempt to get us all to fall in their traps again. What if we can spread the message even further by having designers and artists like you REINVENT THE ICON and contribute to a collection of new anti-fur accessories and visual art?
Some might argue that you don’t tamper with classics, but we think there’s nothing wrong with a group of talented designers, artists, and visionaries breathing new life and form into the original NO-FUR icons, and drawing much-needed attention to the message behind it. You are a creative genius who will change an industry, and we thank you in advance.
Here are some historic anti-fur images and advertisements from the 70′s, 80′s and 90′s:
