Reptiles Killed for Fashion: Milan Fashion Week Protest Explained

Dressed as a 10-foot-long python, a PETA supporter lay on top of a blood-soaked table in Piazza Mercanti today alongside a banner proclaiming, “Wild-Animal Skins Kill.”

The action coincides with the start of Milan Fashion Week and is part of PETA’s campaign calling on the event to ban the skins of tormented snakes and other wildlife from its runways.

🐍 Blood on the runway! 🩸

Today at #MilanFashionWeek, a giant ‘snake’ slithered onto the scene to expose the horrifying truth: wild-animal skins KILL.
#BanWildAnimalSkins #MFW25 #MFW #FashionWeek pic.twitter.com/9q6fj42nfk

— PETA UK (@PETAUK) February 25, 2025

Why PETA Is Protesting Reptile Skins

Behind every reptile-skin garment or accessory is an animal who endured a lifetime of misery before they were bludgeoned, sliced open, or even skinned alive.

In nature, pythons warm themselves in the sun, climb trees, swim, and explore extensive ranges. In the fashion industry, workers often pump snakes full of water or compressed air to loosen their skin before it’s peeled off – often while they’re still conscious.

PETA Exposes the Wildlife Skins Industry

A PETA Asia investigation revealed that workers at two python farms that supply skins to a tannery operated by Kering – the owner of Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent – pinned struggling pythons down by the neck before bashing them over the head with a hammer and impaling them on hooks while they were still moving.

Designers and Fashion Weeks Drop Wildlife Skins

A growing list of top fashion designers – including Altuzarra, Burberry, Chanel, Diane von Furstenberg, Jean Paul Gaultier, Paco Rabanne, Victoria Beckham, and Vivienne Westwood – have banned the use of the skin of reptiles and other wildlife from their collections.

Many designers offer vegan leather options made from pineapples, mushrooms, apples, cacti, and other innovative materials.

Fashion Weeks shunning wild-animal skins from the runways include Copenhagen Fashion Week and London Fashion Week, which extended its fur ban to include wild-animal skins after a PETA campaign.

What You Can Do

PETA is calling on Milan Fashion Week to stay on trend by keeping this extreme cruelty off the catwalk. Join us by sending a message to the organisers now: