manager_1 Kering, a French luxury conglomerate, has made a bold pledge to eliminate fur from all its brands. Many of the labels in the group have stopped using fur, including Gucci, its star brand, which did so in 2017. Balenciaga Bottega Veneta, and Alexander McQueen, have all followed their lead.
Kering announced that all of its brands would stop using fur in their fall 2022 collections. Saint Laurent and Brioni are the only labels that still occasionally use fur.
The group, which had a revenue of 13.1 billion euros in 2020, published a set of animal welfare standards in 2019. These standards will continue to be used, because they also apply to other animal fibers and materials, the group stated.
Francois-Henri pinault, Kering’s CEO and chair, stated Friday that it was time to end the use fur in all of our collections. “Luxury has to change with the times, as have our clients.”
Kering says goodbye to fur
Fur was once a staple of luxury fashion, a symbol for opulence & glamour. However, as consumers demand animal-free products more frequently, fur has come under increasing scrutiny.
This, combined with a growing market for cruelty-free alternatives, has led to a growing number luxury Maisons taking the material out of their collections in recent year’s, including Prada, Burberry and Giorgio Armani, to name a few.
It’s not only luxury markets that are abandoning fur. This year, Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue, Mytheresa Canada Goose, Valentino and Oscar de la Renta all announced fur-free policies.
Kitty Block, president and CEO of Humane Society International commented that “the future is clearly fur free” and she agreed with Kering’s brands regarding their fur-free policies.
Block stated that as markets around the world close their doors for fur products and opt instead for innovative humane items, it makes perfect sense for Kering to make this ethical choice.
In recent years, a growing number brands have removed other animal-derived products like leathers and exotic skins from their collections.
The Vegan Society recently conducted a survey of 1,000 adults in the UK and found that nearly half of respondents (48%) said they would prefer to see brands sell more vegan-verified clothing.
