As issues of sustainability and ethical responsibility move to the forefront of the industry, more and more brands are moving to enact real, positive change. On Monday, French fashion house Chanel announced it would halt the use of exotic skins and fur in future creations.
“The future of high-end products will come from the know-how of what our atelier is able to do,” Bruno Pavlovsky, president of Chanel fashion and president of Chanel SAS, said in an interview with WWD. Pavlovsky's list of exotic skins includes crocodile, lizard, snake and stingray. Sourcing skins that were on par with Chanel's quality and ethical standards became harder and harder, resulting in the decision to eliminate these materials altogether. “There is a problem of supply and that was not Chanel’s business anyway,” the exec explained. “We did it because it’s in the air, but it’s not an air people imposed to us. It’s a free choice.”
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While it will take some time for existing products made with fur and exotic skin to be filtered out, moving forward the brand says it will focus its research and development on textiles and leathers generated by “agri-food” industries. Obviously, PETA is thrilled with the news.
“The champagne corks are popping at PETA, thanks to Chanel's announcement that it's kicking fur and exotic skins—including crocodile, lizard, and snake skin—to the curb,” PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman said in a statement following Chanel's announcement. “For decades, PETA has called on the brand to opt for luxury, cruelty-free fashion that no animal had to suffer and die for, and now it's time for other companies, like Louis Vuitton, to follow the lead of the iconic double C's and do the same.”
Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Jimmy Choo, Michael Kors, and Burberry have already joined the fight against fur, but time will tell which brands will follow Chanel's lead and cease the use of exotic skins.