Fashion brand Saint Laurent will stop using fur from 2022. Kering, the French parent company of the fashion brand, announced this today. The Italian fashion brand Brioni, which falls under the parent company, will no longer use fur in its collections. Saint Laurent and Brioni are the last of the parent company’s brands to still use fur.
Gucci was the company’s first major brand to announce its cessation of fur in 2017. This was followed by Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen, among others. Kering speaks in his statement today about improving animal welfare, saying that “the world has changed, along with our customers and luxury must adapt to it”.
The cessation of fur use is not a recent development. One of the first major brands to announce that they would stop using fur was Calvin Klein in 2014. Chief designer Klein said, among other things, that it did not match “my own considerations about humanely treating animals” and that fur simply no longer suited the philosophy of the company”. Other luxury brands that are no longer using fur include Chanel, Armani and Versace.
Moving with the times
José Teunissen, dean of the London College of Fashion, also talks about the brands that have preceded Kering and is therefore little surprised that Kering is stopping the use of fur. “Classical couture was about using the very best materials. Fur was also part of that in the past. You can see that fur is increasingly included in the whole discussion about climate change, sustainability and the way we deal with animals.”
Although a number of large fashion brands still use fur, they no longer wear it widely, according to Teunissen. “But that doesn’t mean that nobody uses it anymore. It can also be in small things: in the lining of clothing or in accessories.” However, she believes that those companies will eventually stop using fur as well. “I think at some point they feel they have to move with the times.”
Animal rights activists and organizations like PETA have been calling on companies for years to stop using fur. Animal rights group Humane Society International said it was pleased with Friday’s decision and said it would “continue to exert pressure on the few other fashion companies that sell fur”.
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