PETA Fashion Awards 2024: The Winners

Best Catwalk Moment: Copenhagen Fashion Week bans wild-animal skins and wild feathers

Having previously gone fur-free, Copenhagen Fashion Week continued on its compassionate streak by nixing wild-animal skins and wild feathers from their runways. A leader in sustainable fashion, this event sets a great example for other Fashion Weeks to follow.

Best High-Street Fashion Moment:
H&M bans new down

After a campaign by PETA entities, H&M announced that it would spare geese and ducks from horrendous suffering by removing all newly produced down from their ranges as it transitions away from down altogether. Having previously worked with PETA US on a collection featuring down made from plants and flowers, H&M is a leader in the shift towards more conscious high-street fashion.

Best Luxury Moment:
Marc Jacobs bans wild-animal skins

When consumers learn of lizards being decapitated and snakes’ skin torn off for shoes and bags, they refuse to support this torturous industry. Marc Jacobs read the room and became the latest in a long line of fashion houses ditching cruelly made wild-animal products.

Progress Award: Melina Bucher vegan leather atelier

Not content with being one of the most exciting vegan accessory brands on the market, German founder Melina Bucher took further steps for sustainability by opening an atelier where artisans will work only with high-end, animal-free, next-generation materials.

Best Vegan Fur:
ECOPEL Flur

ECOPEL made history when they created the world’s first vegan fur using plant-derived ingredients—and the faux-fur artisans didn’t stop there. The company’s most recent innovation, Flur, is entirely bio-based and made without any petroleum-derived components, proving that the fur of the future is made without killing animals or harming the planet.

Best Vegan Wool: Opera Campi hemp range

This Italian brand experimented with one of the most sustainable materials in fashion: hemp. A true wonder fabric, hemp requires no chemical pesticides or fertilisers, which makes it ideal for organic farming. Opera Campi’s soft and warming sweaters, tops, and scarves are perfect for a wool-free winter wardrobe.

Best Vegan Puffer Jacket: Gymshark Sherpa Puffer

Gymshark is one of the many brands that have signed on to PETA’s Feather-Free Pledge, vowing never to use feathers in their collections again. Their versatile and classic Sherpa puffer jacket features a recycled vegan filler.

Best Vegan Shoes: UGG x Collina Strada

UGG boots got a cruelty-free glow-up when the brand launched a collaboration with Collina Strada that was entirely free from wool and other animal-derived ingredients. Make a style statement with these attention-grabbing designs that don’t harm a hair on a sheep’s head.

Best Vegan Bag: Pangaia GAIA bag in MIRUM

Bio-based vegan leather MIRUM is a true game-changer in vegan leather. Made entirely without plastic, it is the new frontier of sustainably produced, animal-free leather. Cutting-edge brand Pangaia worked with MIRUM for their sleek versatile GAIA tote, which will fit all your everyday essentials.

Red Carpet Award: Prince William

Prince William paid attention to detail when choosing his wardrobe for the 2024 Earthshot Prize Awards. The Purified sneakers that he wore to the event were made from the innovative banana fibre material Bananatex. They also featured water-resistant canvas and a soft-tread latex sole. No leather in sight—very much fit for a royal.

Innovation Award: Fibe potato fibre

The humble potato’s versatility knows no bounds as it makes its foray into fashion now that material innovation company Fibe has created a material crafted from potato waste. This fabric uses little water and emits reduced greenhouse gases, making it a good vegan replacement for wool or silk. The material is compostable and recyclable at the end of its lifespan – not to mention that it offers potato farmers an additional income stream.

Villain of the Year: Pharrell Williams

PETA has repeatedly provided Pharrell with information about the cruelty of fur and wild-animal skins. But despite a lot of lip service, the Creative Director for Louis Vuitton menswear has yet to remove these cruel skins from his collections.