Cruelty is out of fashion

Each year, millions of wild animals suffer through exploitation and slaughter for the profits of fashion brands that have not progressed to more innovative and humane fashion alternatives. 

Increasingly, fashion shows and brands are choosing to transition away from cruelty, enacting sustainability, social and animal welfare policies to keep up with growing consumer demand for more sustainable, ethical and animal-friendly fashion. 

Melbourne Fashion Week has been free of fur and exotic skin since 2018, and recently updated its policy. Meanwhile, Sydney's Australian Afterpay Fashion Week has no policies in place to protect wild animals. 

Disappointingly, of the four major international shows - London, New York, Milan and Paris - just London has banned fur. Even with the lack of action from many of the fashion weeks, fashion brands are implementing their own policies to protect wild animals.

To avoid becoming 'out of fashion', fashion week organisers need to keep up with the brands they exist to celebrate. 

Image credit: Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

There's no way to transform a wild animal into a coat, bag or shoe without causing immense suffering.

Polling commissioned by World Animal Protection found that:

• over 65 percent of people believe that the farming and killing of wild animals for clothing and fashion accessories is unacceptable
• over 72 percent say they would not buy clothing or accessories made from wild animal skin, fur or feathers
• over half of people surveyed say they would unfollow a celebrity or influencer who promoted fashion made from wild animal skin, fur or feathers.

Consumer behaviour is changing as the public learns how animals are used and abused for fashion.

Consumers are shifting towards brands which do not profit from animal cruelty.

It’s time for the industry to align its practices with community expectations.

The trade of wild animals is cruel, unsustainable and unnecessary. Not only is it a source of immense suffering for millions of animals, it also puts our environment and human health at risk. 

The use of wild animals for fashion in dominated by three categories: the fur trade, the exotic skin trade and the feather trade. 

• The wild animals most commonly exploited and slaughtered for their fur include mink, foxes, chinchillas and raccoon dogs.
• While, crocodiles, alligators, snakes, lizards and ostriches are farmed and slaughtered for their skin.
• Ostriches and peacocks are also exploited for their feathers.

World Animal Protection and Collective Fashion Justice recommend that all fashion festivals, brands and fashion industry sponsors immediately adopt a policy that bans the use of furs, exotic skin and feathers.

A kinder, more humane, environmentally responsible and safer fashion industry is not only possible but exciting, creative and inevitable.

Where these bans cannot be achieved immediately, a clear, public timeline for discontinuing their use should be announced.

Any fashion festival or brand committed to relegating wild animal exploitation for fashion to history are encouraged to contact Collective Fashion Justice and World Animal Protection for discussion and support in doing so.

The fashion industry must ask itself whether it will be a leader to protect wild animals, biodiversity and the planet, or if it will continue to profit from their harm and destruction. 

Please support us as we call for brands and events to implement fur, exotic skins and feather bans.