The Relationship Between Fur, Villainy and Mental Health: From Ken and Cruella to 90s Cult Classics

Can someone be defined and placed in a neatly labelled box by a mere fashion choice, let's say...a fluffy fur coat? Iconic characters are made and memorialised by iconic wardrobes. A well-dressed villain is a villain liked and, dare I say, supported. A stylish look, if strong enough, can nullify bad deeds or a bad attitude...to a certain extent, right? The following article will delve into the relationship between a character wearing a fur coat in cinema and how they are classified:  be it a hate-to-love villain or being inclined to mental health troubles. The fur coat is more than just a fur coat. 

Please note that the following article contains spoilers on Barbie (2023), One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), Girl, Interrupted (1999) and Fight Club (1999).

A Fur Coat Built on Masculinity: Ken in Barbie (2023)

Enter Ryan Gosling's Ken from the 2023 phenomenon, Barbie. From the actors’ method dressing during their worldwide press tours of the movie, to the character wardrobes on screen - the Barbie movie was an effect on society itself documented by many. The pink that came to define a cultural moment and re-challenged as gendered colour stereotypically assigned to femininity. 

No colour choice nor outfit was made without attention to detail - and the same goes for Ken and his wardrobe. During Ken's delve into antagonism and being the villain to the matriarchal society of Barbie's world, his clothing is made to reflect this change. Cue the iconic fur 'fauxjo, mojo, mink' coat - a full-length statement piece that symbolises Ken's transformation into what he thinks a man's man should wear (i.e. Rocky, muscles and hypermasculinity). And most importantly, a statement fur coat that turns heads – whether it be out of approval for such a fashionista accessory, or disgust at the blatant display of an animal product profiting a consumer attitude. 

Here, a fur coat becomes a symbolic commentary on Ken's change in personality and ideals - having been brought up in Barbie's shadow, the iconic male character sees the effects of the patriarchy in the real world...and likes what he sees. He brings patriarchy to the fictional world and alongside his fur coat, gender roles shift, and masculinity takes the head seat at the table. When he realises the error of his ways, Ken dramatically sheds his mink coat and its associated hypermasculinity. 

The symbolism of Ken’s fur coat takes on a life of its own – it becomes representative of an ideology that is anti-matriarchy. It leans into the anti-fur movement that is associated with capitalist and consumer society. By Ken’s donning of a fur coat during his pursuit of a patriarchal society, the movie comments on how such a society is not only unsustainable but also has a negative affect on the natural world.

Look Out for Cruella De Vil (1961)

Over 60 years later, the titular animation that is One Hundred and One Dalmatians lives on in nostalgic memory and within the fashion industry. And while some may remember the movie for its spotted dogs, it's more common that the London heiress obsessed with dalmatians holds the most space. Who else could I be referring to other than Cruella de Vil. From her red gloves and heels to black and white hair, Cruella made her biggest statement with her full-length coat.

With a long drag of her equally long cigarette, Cruella was making the industry shiver with joy at such an iconic look that would overshadow her bad attitude and villainess deeds -  you know, the whole 'wanting the coats of the dalmatian puppies which would require skinning them' thing. Her obsession with obtaining the perfect fur is her downfall but it also displays her mental state: kidnapping, murderous tendencies and animal cruelty. For Cruella, her fur coat is a direct proclamation of wearing her insanity for all to see. But what remains is her love of fashion and a good fur coat - regardless of its source.

Within modern fashion, the use of fur has become a hot topic. From real fur handed down through families and possessing a musky aroma or thrifted at flea markets and shaped by its previous owner's body, to faux fur and the realisation that the necessary materials to make them are environmentally harmful - (faux) fur coats have occupied the media like a toxic situationship. Cruella finds herself in the middle of this relationship and becomes all consumed by the idea of the perfect fur.

Girl, Interrupted (1999): Troubled Women and Coats

But what about declining mental health? Here, the discussion of a fur coat finds itself taking place in the mental institution of Claymore, a facility visited by Susanna (played by Winona Ryder) and Lisa (Angelina Jolie). A hospital for troubled women, the narrative follows Susanna and her suicide attempt. But it is at the facility that she meets Lisa - a rebellious and charismatic patient with a tendency to illicit a sense of fear and awe from other patients and hospital staff. 

She makes her entrance with a smirk, handcuffed with a police escort and clad in a fur coat - enter Lisa, the antagonist to Susanna's story. She greets the hospital staff and patients with the arrogance of a troubled teen returned home to her strict parents. It is also at this time that Lisa lays eyes upon Susanna, who she sees as a newly-entered patient subscribed to finding healthcare at Claymore - and a potential new source to direct her impulsive behaviours and troublemaking tendencies.

She is stripped of her coat as she re-enters Claymore - leaving her bare in a white tank top and white pants. Lisa loses her shield disguised as a furry layer and in doing so, she loses her haughty attitude of nonchalant insanity. What is left is Lisa laid bare - for all to see. Here, the fur coat becomes a token wardrobe piece for Lisa and is associated with mental health and mania. While not overtly depicted as a villainess, like that of Cruella, Lisa represents the so-called 'bad guy' to Susanna's story of recovery and threatens to muddy her path to finding herself again. The introduction of her character to the viewer and Susanna, while donning her fur coat, Lisa is aligned with the history of fur coats being worn by those with bad attitudes and committing bad deeds.

Blood, Violence and Consumerism: This is Fight Club (1999)

Surely, we can break the one rule of fight club and talk about Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt)? More specifically, his fur coat and what it means to the audience’s reading of the character.

This cult classic is a dark comedic take on an office worker, Jack (Edward Norton), who suffers from insomnia. Alongside Tyler, the duo formulates a plan to create an underground fight club that is sworn to secrecy by its participants. With a dose of commentary on masculinity, anarchy, identity and consumerism, the film continues to be relevant to today’s society. 

The two men become partners in crime (literally). Where Jack lacks in backbone, Tyler makes up for in his over-the-top ideas and borderline lunacy. In essence, Jack is the ideas man and Tyler is the action man. This difference between the two characters plays in their onscreen wardrobe – Jack is dressed in suits, ties and corporate responsibility. On the other hand, Tyler appears as a modern cowboy clad in red leather jackets, statement shirts and, of course, his fur coat. The two characters couldn’t be more unlike – from their personalities to their outward appearances they wish to convey to the world. 

As established, Tyler is a facet of Jack’s personality – a facet he wishes he could be in a society that dictates his every move and seeks to keep him compliant to consumer capitalism. Tyler is his escape from this grim reality – a means of living vicariously through another being without endangering himself. 

Tyler and Jack are later revealed to be one person: Jack as the host and real entity, where Tyler is a facet of Jack’s personality and an outlet for his response to society...or rather, how he wishes he could react to society. Cue the fur coat that becomes leaden with meaning. As a character who represents the unrestrained, nihilistic and living on the edge of the moment, Tyler is the epitome of a psyche driven by Freud’s Id. He is driven by impulse, pleasure and immediate gratification, and similarly to Susanna (Girl, Interrupted), Tyler’s fur coat becomes his shield against society and outcry to defy the normative (i.e. the suit and tie codification of Jack). 

A fur coat can possess many a meaning when used in a film setting – from commentary on the unsustainability of a patriarchal society led by a consumerist attitude, to a fashionista wanting that perfect fur…no matter how questionable its source is, to mental health and shielding from a society that is damaging the mental health of its workers in the pursuit of capitalist gain. A fur coat is never simply just a fur coat. It is so much more and when one looks into its history, the anti-fur campaigns in the fashion industry, wearing one is both rebellious and in an intricate discourse with society’s governing conversations.