Man-made fur has gone by many names — mock fur, imitation fur, simulated fur, fabric fur — but the fashion world found its preferred nomenclature when Cher Horowitz proudly declared, "It's faux," back when the craze for over-the-top furry accents hit a new high in the mid-1990s.

Perhaps more than any other material used in fashion, faux fur is considered as much a political statement as it is a fashion statement. It may seem relatively unremarkable when almost every brand is peddling some form of furry fashion, but there's something to be said about a material that was initially created to cheat Mother Nature. Perhaps we're programmed to think that donning a fuzzy coat will keep us safe from the elements based on the needs of our ancestors. Then again, our ancestors didn't have indoor heating or any of the other fashionable and technologically advanced choices that we have today, so why do we still feel the desire to go outside looking like polar bears and leopards?

Real or fake, fur is still an extremely controversial topic with serious environmental concerns existing on both sides of the issue. While the fur trade is associated with animal cruelty and bringing some species closer to extinction, the faux fur business (like most of fashion) often relies on harmful chemicals and cheap labor to produce millions of garments at affordable prices. To better understand the ongoing debate on fur, we're taking a closer look at how fake fur disrupted one of the biggest and most historically significant industries in human history, and what it means for the future of fashion.