When Animals Walk (Runways)
Mikey Koffman recently learned controversy can be found even in the seemingly most innocent of statements when she produced the Green Initiative Humanitarian Fashion Show on Oct. 16 at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios in Culver City, Calif.
The show’s message was that the environment is worth saving and that green fashion could help the cause. To illustrate their environmental point, producers included several wild animals—specifically, a wolf, an albino python and a capuchin monkey—in one part of the show.
The animal’s runway performance drove some bloggers wild.
Los Angeles Times’ “All The Rage” blogger Melissa Magsaysay wrote of the animals’ performance: “Love them by leaving them in their home.”
On the “Pop+Politics” blog, blogger Samantha Page said there was no good reason for the animals to be on stage. A blog reader named Chris Alexander commented. “With all the flashing cameras going off and the loud techno music, that [wolf] could of easily snagged someones [sic] head off!!!”
But show organizers said that was extremely unlikely. The animals are owned by Animal Actors Worldwide, (AAW), a Devore, Calif.-based business that provides exotic animals to be photographed in film and television productions. Koffman said that they were well-cared for during the show. Officers from Los Angeles County’s Animal Control department inspected the welfare of the animals before the show. The animals were kept apart from the chaos of the fashion show’s backstage by being placed in a separate room. In this place, they were fed and cared for by four trainers from AAW.
Green Initiative designer Sandy Skinner thought the notion of these animals rampaging on stage was ridiculous. The animals have all been proven basically tame by their regular work on film sets. “These are not rabid beasts. They have been reared by humans,” said Skinner, who designs the Los Angeles–based EcoSkin label and is a regular volunteer at AAW.
Sandy Skinner and Rowdy, the capuchin monkey
