Breaking: PETA France Disrupts Dior Show to Protest Against Use of Feathers

24.09.2024

Paris – During Dior’s Paris show this afternoon, a PETA France activist stormed the runway to denounce the fashion house’s use of feathers. Wearing a faux-feather dress that made her back look like bloodied, live-plucked skin, the protester held a sign reading, “F*ck Feathers!” before the star-studded audience. The action comes after Lady Gaga appeared at the Paris Olympics wearing a Dior dress made of ostrich feathers. Video footage of the action is available here.

“It’s a myth that ostriches bury their heads in the sand, but Dior is guilty of doing just that to wilfully ignore the suffering of birds,” says PETA Vice President for Europe Mimi Bekhechi. “Cruelty is rampant in the feather industry, and it’s high time Dior ditched animal feathers and finally got creative with innovative vegan materials.”

Ostriches are the most commonly exploited animals for feathers used in fashion. . These animals can live up to 45 years in their natural habitats, but those used for their feathers are killed at just 1 year old. Dior has claimed that it uses feathers that are a result of natural moulting, but selling moulted feathers is not a viable business model to supply designers with the volume of feathers they demand. Furthermore, whenever parts of animals are used in the fashion industry, corners are cut, and abuse is commonplace.

PETA entities have also joined hands with Stella McCartney to call on designers around the world to pledge to never again use feathers in their collections. In addition to the British designer, many houses – including Felder Felder, Eirinn Hayhow, Richard Malone, Patrick McDowell, VIN + OMI, Pīferi, Sarah Regensburger, and Joshua James Small – have already pledged to go feather-free, and fashion weeks in Berlin, Copenhagen, and Melbourne have adopted policies against the use of wild birds’ feathers. Innovative designers are creating vegan feathers made of bamboo, embroidery, metal, or recycled materials.

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow the group on Facebook, X, TikTok, or Instagram.

Contact:

Sascha Camilli +44 20 7923 6244; [email protected]

#