Frequently Asked Questions

While well-intentioned, faux fur is a petrochemical-based textile. It is a form of plastic that contributes to microplastic pollution and relies on the fossil fuel industry. Almanac Australia was founded to provide a more considered alternative.

We use a natural, biodegradable material that is not farmed, but is instead reclaimed from a crucial environmental program. Our work is not about creating a new demand for fur; it’s about intercepting an existing waste stream to solve a real-world ecological problem.

Using Australian fox fur is a conscious choice rooted in ecological responsibility. The European Red Fox is an invasive species that has inflicted catastrophic damage on our unique ecosystems, and is a primary cause for the extinction of at least 13 native mammal species.

Our work is to take the direct byproduct of the necessary and ongoing conservation efforts to manage this threat, and transform it into something of value. By using this specific fur, we are responding to a real-world Australian problem, ensuring nothing is wasted.

In an ideal world, non-lethal methods like fertility control would be a perfect solution. However, the current reality of the Australian landscape makes this unfeasible. With an estimated 1.8 million foxes spread across a vast and rugged continent, methods that require the capture and injection of individual animals are not effective at a population level.

Lethal culling is currently the primary method supported and utilised by government agencies, conservation groups, and landholders as the only effective tool available to protect our vulnerable native species from immediate extinction. Our work operates within the stark reality of modern conservation science, not an idealised version of it.

Our sourcing is built on direct partnerships with the farmers and private landholders who are witnessing the impacts of foxes on the land everyday.

These are individuals and families already engaged in the necessary work of managing invasive species to protect both their livestock and the native wildlife on their properties. We have established a system where we create a financial return for their efforts, directly helping to fund the continuation of this vital conservation work.

This grassroots approach ensures complete transparency and traceability for every material we use. It allows us to know the story behind each pelt and guarantees that our entire collection is a direct and ethical byproduct of a conservation necessity.

This is a cornerstone of our ethical framework. The foxes sourced for our collection are dispatched by skilled and accredited professionals.

The method used is targeted shooting, a practice widely considered a more humane and ecologically responsible method of population control than broadscale baiting.

Our approach is precise, targeted, and focused on minimising suffering. It is a difficult but necessary task, and we are committed to ensuring it is carried out with the utmost respect and responsibility.

This is the core of our philosophy. Here, the fashion item is not the end goal; it is the engine for conservation. We do not undertake conservation to create fashion. We create fashion to fund conservation.

Every pelt we source undergoes a professional, multi-stage tanning process in partnership with expert tanners here in Australia.

This is an intensive treatment that permanently preserves and softens the hide, transforming the raw material into a supple, durable, and luxurious textile ready for our artisans. We work closely with our partners to prioritise environmentally considered methods, avoiding harsh chemicals where possible to honour the natural integrity of the material. The result is an heirloom-quality textile, prepared with the utmost care.

This is the central ethical question, and our model is designed to address it. The financial return we provide to landholders is a bonus that helps offset the costs of their conservation work; it is not a primary income stream that would ever outweigh the far greater financial and ecological cost of having an invasive predator on their land. A farmer's goal is always local eradication. Our brand is intentionally not built for infinite scale; our supply is proudly limited by the success of these conservation efforts.

This is a question we have considered deeply, and we believe the answer is no. In fact, we believe our pieces do the opposite. They are designed to be conversation starters. When someone asks about an Almanac Australia piece, the story they hear is not one of luxury for its own sake, but one of a complex Australian ecological crisis.

The story of this specific fur is a powerful argument against the old fur trade. It highlights the profound difference between a destructive, farmed commodity and a considered, reclaimed material born from a conservation necessity. Our pieces don't normalise the industry; they tell the story of a unique and purposeful alternative.

This is a crucial question that gets to the very heart of our brand's structure and purpose. Our view is that we are not creating a market for a raw commodity; we are creating a market for trust, transparency, and a unique story.

An unethical operator could never replicate our model because the fur itself is not our primary product. Our product is the entire ethical framework: the direct partnership with landholders, the tangible contribution to conservation, the meticulous, hands-on craft, all guided and designed by a founder with a background in biodiversity conservation. These are barriers to entry that an imitator driven by profit alone cannot overcome.

We believe that by setting an incredibly high and transparent ethical standard from day one, we are not making it easier for unethical players. We are making it harder. We are educating the customer to ask the tough questions: "Who are your partners? What is your process? What is your purpose?" Our success will not legitimise an unethical industry; it will create a discerning customer base that demands the very integrity on which our brand is built.

This is a scenario we have carefully considered, and the answer is at the core of our principles: our production will always be limited by the number of ethically available pelts. We will never inflate demand or pressure our landholder partners to increase their conservation efforts beyond what is ecologically necessary.

This means our collections will be created in small, considered batches. We see this not as a limitation, but as a commitment to the integrity of our mission. Our brand is dictated by the needs of the Australian landscape, not the demands of the market.

Our core product is not fur; it is trust. Our model is built on direct, personal partnerships and radical transparency. In our founding stages, the guarantee of our integrity is the founder's personal story and background as a conservationist. As we grow, our commitment is to build a transparent, auditable supply chain, but our ethos will remain the same: we are a brand of slow, considered craft, not infinite scale.