Feb 06: It doesn't mean "for free" (though it is). Or "fun find" (though Sundancers sure thought so). Or even "friends forever" (we're talking about the fickle Hollywood crowd here, after all).
The "FF" necklaces and ski caps spotted on Dominique Swain, Mena Suvari, Rachel Leigh Cook and the rest of the screen stars out in Park City last week in fact stand for "fur free." The brainchild of Imitation of Christ marketing director Danny Seo, the animal-friendly accessories were doled out in the Seven lodge, which Seo credits with making his product such a success. "I had no idea that Seven has such a cult following. That was really the bait," he said this week, back at his New York home base. Once lured in, however, the crowd gobbled up the rhinestone pendants, manufactured by Alex and Ani (coincidentally also producing IOC's first jewelry piece, a necklace designed by Tara Subkoff that is currently in the works). The ski hats, with embroidered "FF," were thrown in to satisfy the boys, though they weren't always necessary. "Robert Downey liked the necklace better," admits Seo.

So is this just a kinder, sparklier PETA? "Not at all," says Seo, who began his work in environmental activism as a teen. "We've gotten a lot of support from within the design community and it's nice to have this be separate from the animal rights movement. It's important for me not to partner with them."
In fact, he conceived Fur Free in response to what he sees as ineffective methods on the part of other animal rights groups. "They're stuck in their old ways: 'We need to make more graphic photos, to have more protests,'" he says of their tactics. "Sure, those are ways to get attention, but they're not ways to change people's minds." And frankly, they're just getting old. "Just like in fashion, you need to reinvent the way you market."
So he introduced the Fur Free necklace concept, inspired one day by US Weekly (and you never thought it could happen). An entire story about a "J" necklace spotted on Alyssa Milano ("does it stand for Justin?" the hard-hitting expose mused), got Seo thinking: "If they're devoting a whole story to a necklace ..." And the rest is Sundance history. A slew of requests for the necklaces has prompted Seo to consider making more pendants, but he doesn't want to linger on this first success: "Now we need to reinvent this." He's already booking an LA Fashion Week party at Dean and Davis Factor's Smashbox Studios, is in talks with Stella McCartney about joining Fur Free, and has a website (www.furisnotfabric.com) in the works.
Next up though is New York Fashion Week, and this time Seo's group will be offering a new kind of fur-free swag. Look out for a bottle of Nair or gift certificate for a bikini wax on your chair at one lucky show. Seo is currently in talks with fur-free designers Catherine Malandrino and Benjamin Cho after a Heatherette collaboration fell through -- turns out they design with fur. Seo insists, however, his mission is not to be militant. Good thing, since his IOC boss Tara Subkoff often steps out in vintage furs, and the brand's "honorary creative director" Chloe Sevigny is a big fur wearer, especially when in snowy Utah. "We're saying it's cool to be fur-free, not the other way around," explains Seo. "Sure, I saw Chloe at Sundance," he says. "We were kidding around. I was like, 'I have this necklace, but I'm not going to give it to you.'"

Bureau Report