Two of fashion’s most iconic brands, Alexander McQueen and Balenciaga, have announced they no longer use animal fur in their lines.
Alexander McQueen, a top British brand, and Balenciaga, a luxury Spanish brand, are the latest houses in the Kering Group, a luxury fashion group based in France, to move away from fur and embrace a compassionate future. Humane Society International and the Humane Society of the United States have been working with Kering and its brands for years now, and in 2017 we announced a fur-free policy with another leading Kering house, Gucci.
In 2020, Kering said in its universal registration document that most of its brands do not use fur. Bottega Veneta, another Kering brand, has been fur-free for nearly 20 years.
The announcement from McQueen and Balenciaga adds to a growing list of fashion designers globally who are dropping fur, including Prada, Armani, Versace, Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo, DKNY, Burberry and Chanel.
The developments demonstrate a growing distaste among top designers for fur, as they learn about the cruel conditions under which fur is produced on fur farms spread across the globe. As HSI investigations of fur farms have shown, all fur production is characterized by extreme cruelty and a complete disregard for the welfare of the foxes, mink, raccoon dogs and countless other animals who are victims of this trade.
The urgency to end the use of fur has further escalated during the global pandemic, which has resulted in even more suffering for animals on mink fur farms. Across the world, millions of mink have been gassed to death after reports of the coronavirus infecting fur farms. As a result, several cities, states and even entire countries are working to ban fur sales.
In the United Kingdom, which banned fur production in 2003, the government is now considering calls for the country to become the first globally to ban fur sales. The Netherlands has already ended mink fur production following coronavirus outbreaks on its mink fur farms.
There is growing momentum against fur in the United States as well. In 2019, California became the first U.S. state to ban fur sales after several of its cities—including Los Angeles and San Francisco—passed similar legislation. Wellesley, Massachusetts, banned fur sales last year, and lawmakers in several U.S. states have already introduced fur sales bans in 2021.
These are exciting developments, and we are proud of the role we have played in bringing about this global revolution against fur. This is a truly unnecessary product that has no place in a humane world. We applaud Kering—and Alexander McQueen and Balenciaga—for their forward-thinking announcement today, and we will continue to work toward the day when no animal is subjected to a life of deprivation and terror, followed by a cruel death, on a fur farm.
