The nutria, commonly known as a swamp rat, is being rebranded as a socially acceptable and environmentally friendly alternative way to wear fur. The effort culminated in November at a “righteous fur” fashion show at the House of Yes, an art space in New York City.

But “Nutria-palooza” was not just about fashion. The main sponsor, the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program, is a nonprofit conservation group in Thibodaux, Louisiana, that works to preserve the 17-millionhectare swamp in southern Louisiana that is being threatened by the furry critter.

Nutria is a herbivorous rodent, about half the size of a beaver, that is native to South America. They were shipped to fur farmers in the United States as early as the 19th century, and some eventually escaped into the Louisiana swamps. At first, the population was kept in check by a marketplace that prized the exotic, soft brown fur.

But when the fur market foundered in the 1980s, the nutria population soared and started to endanger the fragile ecosystem. The invasive rodent eats away the bottom of the plants that hold the coastal wetlands together.

In 2002, Louisiana started paying trappers and hunters $5 for every nutria killed. About 400,000 animals were destroyed last year, but the carcasses were simply discarded or left to rot in the swamp.

That’s when Cree McCree, an environmentalist and designer from New Orleans, decided to market nutria as a “guilt-free fur that belongs on the runway instead of at the bottom of the bayou,” she said.

“If they’re being killed anyway,” she added, “then why not make something beautiful - ”

Last year, using a grant from the estuary foundation, Ms. McCree founded Righteous Fur, a line that includes the animal’s signature orange teeth, which she caps with sterling silver and sells as necklaces for $85.

The nutria has been having a moment. Designers like Billy Reid , Michael Kors and Oscar de la Renta have incorporated nutria lining or trim in recent collections, and the fur has shown up on Etsy, the online store for handmade and vintage crafts, in the form of merkins - triangular patches sewn onto flesh-colored panties.

At the New York show, Alicia Zenobia, a designer working in New York and New Orleans, presented a cocktail dress trimmed with strips of nutria and tiny bejeweled skulls made of clay.

And Dana Embree, a costume designer in New Orleans, went with a 1960s-style mini halter dress with fur collar and gloves.

“ I had to take a deep breath now and then,” she said. “I’d never worked with something that had eye holes.”


BY ANNA JANE GROSSMAN