WATCH NOW: PETA Crashes Burberry Catwalk With Anti-Leather Message
Tonight, a PETA supporter stormed the runway of the Burberry show at London Fashion Week holding a sign that read, “Leather Kills”.
Watch what happened next:
The action follows a disruption by PETA in September, when an activist crashed Burberry’s runway with the message that “Animals Are Not Clothing”.
BREAKING: PETA disrupts @Burberry fashion show in London. #BurberryxBright pic.twitter.com/YfqCxbRaiF
— PETA UK (@PETAUK) September 18, 2023
We are calling on Burberry to do the right thing and leave animal-derived materials, including leather, cashmere, and down, out of its collections. Please take a moment to send a message to Burberry:
Let’s Kick Cruelly Obtained, Toxic Leather off the Catwalk
Burberry and other fashion brands must do the right thing and replace animal skin with luxurious plant leathers, which are better for animals and the planet.
Leather is a billion-dollar co-product of the meat industry, and profits from leather sales drive the slaughter of hundreds of millions of animals each year. A PETA exposé of the global leather industry found that animals are exposed to the elements and denied food and water during gruelling journeys to abattoirs, where their throats are slit while they’re still conscious and able to feel pain.
Turning animal skin into leather requires up to 170 unique chemicals – including cyanide, aluminium, and chromium. Animal agriculture, which includes the leather industry, is one of the leading contributors to the climate catastrophe, and cow leather has been ranked the most polluting textile in fashion by industry reports.
Leather Causes Biodiversity Loss and High Carbon Footprint
Burberry knows the high cost of animal-derived materials and should switch to vegan leather to meet its own sustainability goals. In 2021, the brand completed a biodiversity baseline assessment “to determine its highest ecological impacts”, which “highlighted that leather, cashmere and wool have the most significant impact on biodiversity as well as accounting for a high proportion of Burberry’s carbon footprint”. In recent years, the company has focused on traceability – mapping the suppliers involved in processing the leather it uses – but this does nothing to change the fact that more than 90% of the environmental impact happens before the skins reach the tannery.
Burberry’s sustainability page says, “[W]e know we need to do more to tackle the future impact of global warming and climate change. We need to go beyond. Today, we have announced our pledge to become climate positive by 2040.”
Animals and the planet cannot wait until 2040. We are experiencing a climate catastrophe. If Burberry is serious about reducing its environmental footprint, it must switch to vegan materials like bio-based leather and plant wools now.
Vegan Leather Is the Future
Burberry has already banned the use of fur, angora, and exotic skins, and we’re urging it to take the next compassionate step by dropping all animal-derived materials, including leather, from its collections.
Sustainable vegan leather made from apples, cork, corn, grapes, mushrooms, pineapples, or tea mimics the properties of leather without the cruelty to animals or environmental devastation.
Never buy leather, and check out PETA’s guides to making vegan shopping easy:
Vegan Fashion: Your Guide to the Basics
Good Guys Don’t Wear Leather
