With luxury fashion brands ditching fur, it’s no wonder the world has taken a turn towards compassionate fashion and going cruelty free.
A fur-free future is ahead of us. With recent shifts from the largest fashion houses such as Versace and Gucci taking a new stance on their use of fur, it marks a powerful message towards their commitment to animal rights.
This move will not only bring about a whole new view on ethical fashion, but also send a message that mass slaughter and animal cruelty is no longer acceptable.
Here's our favorite luxury brands that have taken a stand against fur, and we can't wait to see who we will be adding to the list next!!
Versace
Versace has a long history of using fur in its collections, as the luxury label is known for its glamorous and extravagant fur coats and fur trimmed garments. In a recent interview with The Economist’s 1843 magazine, Donatella Versace pronounced that furs would no longer be used. “Fur? I am out of that. I don’t want to kill animals to make fashion. It doesn’t feel right.”
One cannot expect that all fur products would be dropped immediately, so after doing a little digging on their website, there was one product still using fur; a rabbit fur pillow from their home collection. Considering this move took place only a few months prior, I think if this is the only item left that it’s a huge step in the right direction!
Gucci
When Gucci’s fur lined loafers hit the market, they were one of the hottest footwear items of 2017. It came as a big surprise that by year-end, Gucci committed to go fur free for its Spring/Summer 2018 collections.
Chief Executive and President Marco Bizzarri told Business of Fashion Magazine “Do you think using furs today is still modern? I don’t think it’s still modern and that’s the reason why we decided not to do that. It’s a little bit out-dated.” Even Gucci’s Creative Director Alessandro Michele agreed, stating “Fashion has always been about trends and emotions and anticipating the wishes and desires of consumers.”
Clearly they heard the voices of the people and knew now was the time to ditch fur for good.
Tom Ford
Speaking openly about his lifestyle changes, Ford explains that he became vegan after watching the documentary ‘What The Health’. He explains “I’ve been vegan for about the last year. When you look at how most of our meat is raised, I felt that I should eat those things anymore.”
While he hasn’t made anything official yet, he did say that “I have started using much more faux fur. But I’m not yet ready to say that I’m fur-free. Now, I have limited fur in these collections and going forward to food byproducts, which does not sound very sexy. “I’m selling you a food byproduct! That means cowhide, it means shearling, it means not doing fur that is raised purely for its pelt.” Thankfully, amongst the other luxury fashion brands who ditched fur, Tom Ford noticeably left fur out of his Fall 2018 collection
Michael Kors & Jimmy Choo
In 2017, Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo announced they would phase out all fur designs by December 2018. “Due to technological advances in fabrications, we now have the ability to create a luxe aesthetic using non animal fur,” said Kors to Business of Fashion Magazine.
The decision marks a new chapter as the company continues to evolve its use of innovative materials.
After suffering animal rights demonstrations, protests and being ambushed on stage, Michael Kors realized he couldn’t run away anymore.
Armani
Back in 2016, Giorgio Armani made the decision to go fur free.
“I am pleased to announce that the Armani Group has made a firm commitment to abolish the use of animal fur in its collections,” Mr. Armani said back in March 2016.
“Technological progress made over the years allows us to have valid alternatives at our disposition that render the use of cruel practices unnecessary as regards animals. Pursuing the positive process undertaken long ago, my company is now taking a major step ahead, reflecting our attention to the critical issues of protecting and caring for the environment and animals.”
The brand is committing this new policy to Giorgio Armani, Armani Prive and Emporio Armani collections.
Stella McCartney
Since Stella McCartney launched her brand back in 2001, she has never used real fur in her designs. Instead, the devoted vegetarian created “Fur-Free Fur” which launched in 2015. Resembling the look and feel of fur, she hopes it will promote the brand's cruelty-free and ethical philosophy.
In an interview with Broadly, McCartney said “the fashion industry can get away with a lot and it's getting away with murder. Fur is the most unnecessary thing in the world. Those animals are not eaten, if they try to pretend that the fur industry products are by-products they are not. Those animals are bred to be turned into coats.”
Unfortunately, she couldn’t be more correct.
Vivienne Westwood
In a 2007 meeting with PETA, Westwood made the decision to stop using fur. She learnt about the immense suffering that animals went through on factory farms and decided to go fur free. After depleting all of her stock, she had eight rabbit-fur handbags left, which PETA donated to a wildlife sanctuary to be used as comfort orphaned baby animals.
Tommy Hilfiger
Tommy Hilfiger went fur-free in 2007. In a statement, the designer said: "Starting immediately, the company will cease development of any product containing fur. Any fur jackets or garment already in production will be phased out of sales channels by the delivery of the spring 2008 collection."
Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren dropped fur from its collections in 2006. The company said "fur has never been an integral part of our design strategy as we had only used it on a limited basis as an accent in some collections. We are publicly announcing this decision because the use of fur has been under review internally and we feel that the time is right to take this action."
Calvin Klein
The earliest adopter to the animal rights cause was none other than Calvin Klein. He stopped the use of fur in 1994 and was one of the industry leaders of fashion brands ditching fur.
Speaking to to the New York Times, Klein made his decision based on “my own reflections on the humane treatment of animals” and “the fact that the fur segment of our business simply did not fit with our corporate philosophy any longer.”
John Galliano
After meeting with PETA’s senior vice president, John Galliano not only became vegetarian, but stopped using furs in his designs. “Today we don’t want a product, we want ethics, a firm that defends the values that we admire,” the designer said on his new stance to fur.
In an interview with ELLE Magazine, Galliano shared his experience with the PETA Vice President. “I was swimming in the sea with Penélope Cruz in Saint-Tropez and then Dans face popped out of the water like Jaws. It was very frightening! I knew PETA's work, I respected them, but their reputation preceded them," said Galliano. “You can be outrageous and fun without fur! Come and party with us, you’ll see!”
With these luxury designers and fashion brands ditching fur, it’s showing society to have more compassion for animals. We feel this type of ethical behaviour should be viewed more importantly than the bottom line.
This is why we couldn't be happier to continue our mission to bring faux fur to the mainstream! With the ability to customize our pieces, we can ensure you get the perfect piece fit for a queen.
Let us know in the comments below how you feel about fashion houses supporting faux fur!!
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