Chanel Is Banning Exotic Skins After Decades of Pressure From PETA and Our Affiliates
Corks are popping at PETA following the news that Chanel is kicking fur and exotic skins – including crocodile, lizard, and snake skin – to the kerb. It makes the Parisian fashion house the largest player in luxury fashion to ban these cruel “materials”.
For decades, PETA and its affiliates have called on the brand to opt for luxury, cruelty-free fashion that no animal had to suffer and die for.
Chanel said in the statement:
We are continually reviewing our supply chains to ensure they meet our expectations of integrity and traceability. In this context, it is our experience that it is becoming increasingly difficult to source exotic skins which match our ethical standards.
There’s no such thing as “ethical sourcing” of animal-derived materials. If companies are being honest, they have to acknowledge that.
Crocodiles, lizards, and snakes may be poached from their natural habitats or raised on squalid farms and killed in the most gruesome and painful ways before their skins are exported to Europe and used by “luxury” brands. Reptiles, just like mammals, are sensitive to pain, yet they’re frequently mutilated without any prior stunning or painkillers.
PETA’s exposé of the exotic-skins trade showed that live reptiles were sawn open and left to bleed to death on farms that supply skins to luxury brands like Hermès.
Now it’s time for other companies, like Louis Vuitton and Hermès, to follow the lead of the iconic double “C”s and do the same.
What You Can Do
Please speak out for animals exploited and slaughtered for their skins. Ask Hermès and LVMH, which owns Louis Vuitton, to stop selling items made with alligator and crocodile skins.
