80 Per Cent of Designers at London Fashion Week Refuse to Use Fur
We’ve known for a long time that fur is on the way out. But it’s always encouraging to get some hard numbers that confirm how much progress we’re making.
When we conducted research into how many top designers have rejected fur, we found that a whopping 80 per cent of the designers that showed at London Fashion Week in February 2015 did not use fur in their autumn/winter collections.
That shouldn’t be surprising. After all, fur is a disturbing and unethical fabric that has no place in the 21st century. And the actual figure is much, much lower than the numbers published by the International Fur Trade Federation, which claimed that last year more than 60 per cent of shows on the British catwalks featured fur. After contacting designers ourselves about their fur policy, we know that the fur industry’s figures just aren’t accurate.
The industry has been on its knees since the 1980s and has been reduced to sponsoring fashion shows and giving away free pelts in an effort to keep fur visible. According to our latest research, it’s struggling to do even that.
Cutting-edge designers are increasingly staying away from real fur, realising that trends are set by innovators who embrace eco- and animal-friendly materials as well as advances in fabric and fibre technology that make the most out of metal, cotton, cork and synthetics. Vivienne Westwood, Shrimps, Christopher Ræburn, Felder Felder and Simone Rocha are just a few of the designers and brands working with new technology to produce exquisite vegan fabrics whose production doesn’t require animals to bleed.
Of course, the one in five designers that do continue to use fur is still far too many. As long as animals are still being caged and killed for their skins, we’ll keep on campaigning against this appalling industry.
Take Action
- If you ever see real fur on sale, please speak out: send an e-mail to the company’s customer services team or ask to have a polite word with the manager.
- Encourage people you know who have a fur coat lurking in their wardrobe to donate it to PETA. We’ll be able to put it to good use in our hard-hitting awareness campaigns.
- Write to department store Harvey Nichols asking it to get with the times and reinstate its no-fur policy via our action alert.
