PETA Fashion Awards 2020

 

As consumer demand for ethical fashion keeps rising, fashion brands increasingly offer clothing for which animals weren’t beaten, slaughtered, or skinned – as well as items made with materials that are less harmful to the environment. The PETA Fashion Awards celebrate the labels, style icons, and forward-thinking designers that have made big statements for animals in 2020.

  • Progress in Retail Moment

    Valentino, M&S, Next, New Look, UNIQLO, and Others Ban Alpaca

    Following the release of investigative footage showing pregnant alpacas being hit, kicked, tied down, and mutilated for their fleece, numerous brands – from high-end to the high street – banned the material from their ranges this year in favour of cruelty-free fabrics.

  • Progress in Luxury Moment

    Mulberry, Paul Smith, PVH Corp, and SMCP Ban Exotic Skins

    Much like fur, exotic skins are on their way out of fashion. Amid warnings by experts of the industry’s connections to pandemics like COVID-19, this year, many designers vowed to keep the skins of crocodiles, alligators, snakes, ostriches, lizards, and other exotic animals out of their collections.

  • Most Iconic
    Moment

    Queen Elizabeth II Going Fur-Free

    In a sign of the times, the Queen became the latest famous name to be added to the long list of public figures who no longer wear the fur of tormented animals. Her Majesty’s decision is in line with the opinion of most of her subjects – research shows that 95% of the British public opposes the fur trade.

  • Change of Heart
    Award

    Mike Moser, Former Fur-Trade Boss

    Having worked in the fur trade for over a decade, Mike Moser, the former CEO of the British Fur Trade Association, came to understand that the industry is “anachronistic, barbaric and unnecessary”. After welcoming a Labrador into his family, he began to question and re-examine the ethics of confining animals on fur farms, saying, “I no longer believed it possible to raise animals in cages and maintain good welfare.” He now speaks out against the industry and has joined the #FurFreeBritain campaign calling on the UK government to ban the sale and import of fur in the country.

  • Fashion Villain of the Year

    Farfetch

    Despite repeatedly being made aware of the cruelty of the angora industry, in which fully conscious rabbits are painfully live-plucked, Farfetch continues to profit from the torment of terrified, suffering animals, which makes the company this year’s Fashion Villain.

  • Best Catwalk
    Moment

    Mary McCartney

    Stella McCartney’s Fashion Week Presentation 

    This spring, Stella McCartney filled the runway at Paris Fashion Week with models dressed in cow, fox, and rabbit costumes to remind everyone that the skins we see in fashion shows come from animals. This whimsical way of bringing animal rights onto the runway earned this pioneering animal-friendly designer, who never uses fur, leather or feathers, yet another Fashion Award.

  • Innovation Award

    Weganool

    Indian company Faborg is behind Weganool, a cutting-edge vegan wool made from the milkweed-like plant Calotropis. The soft fibre of the plant is spun with organic cotton to create a comfortable, wearable textile that no animal had to suffer for.

  • Most Wanted Award

    telfarglobal

    Telfar

    This year, fashionistas all around the world were falling over themselves to get their hands on the elusive, much-coveted Telfar designs. Loved by celebrities, Telfar bags are made with 100% vegan leather, showing just how desirable vegan materials can be.

  • Collaboration Award

    Dr Martens x Marc Jacobs

    Already well known for its vegan collection, Dr Martens stepped its designer game up a notch by collaborating with Marc Jacobs on an eye-catching, decorated version of its classic boot – in vegan leather. Comfortable and statement-making at the same time, this style will be on many fashionistas’ feet this winter.

  • Vegan Luxury
    Award

    Pīferi

    Pīferi

    Following stints at Jimmy Choo and Burberry, designer Alfredo Pīferi started his own label of luxurious, Italian-made shoes. One thing sets Pīferi apart from other designer shoe labels: all of the brand’s sophisticated designs are vegan. No cows or other animals were killed to make these killer heels.

  • Best Celebrity
    Collection

    Butterfly Twists

    Catherine Zeta-Jones x Butterfly Twists

    Catherine Zeta-Jones is a style icon for many, and when the world-renowned movie star launched her own shoe collection, she chose to make all designs vegan. “[A]s a designer I respect that for a pair of shoes we don’t really need to be using hide,” she told Marie Claire, proving that dressing vegan can be easy, effortless, and chic.

  • Best Down-Free Collection

    Henrik Vibskov Ecodown®

    As interest for sustainable, down-free fillers continues to grow, Danish label Henrik Vibskov is offering puffer jackets made with Ecodown® – a feather-free filler made from recycled plastic bottles. To create it, the brand uses a process that saves water, energy, and raw materials, making the designs kind to the environment as well as to animals.

Animals are not ours to wear, and when used for their skin, hair, wool, or feathers, they’re treated like nothing more than a collection of body parts instead of the sensitive, intelligent individuals they are. But thanks to brands such as our compassionate award winners, the fashion industry is changing and we’re moving towards a kinder and more sustainable future.

If you want to shop for animal-free clothing, check out some of the “PETA-Approved Vegan” fashion brands:

'PETA Approved Vegan' Fashion