Karl Lagerfeld’s namesake brand has scrapped fur. The ban comes after decades of campaigning from animal rights group PETA, who issued a statement concerning the news.
“PETA applauds these companies for their compassionate and business-savvy decisions, which show that fur is out and kindness is in,” says PETA director Elisa Allen.
“Ethical shoppers simply don’t want animals to be abused and killed for coats, collars, and cuffs, and these fur bans are proof that the fashion industry is changing to meet the rising demand for luxury animal-friendly alternatives.”
Lagerfeld, who died in February this year, previously defended his use of fur on the grounds that to ban it would be to put many people out of jobs. He also added that some of fur’s detractors still eat meat and wear leather, which weakens their argument.
“It’s very easy to say no fur, no fur, no fur, but it’s an industry,” he told the New York Times in 2015. “Who will pay for all the unemployment of the people if you suppress the industry of the fur? The hunters in the north for the sable, they have no other job, there is nothing else to do. Those organisations who are much against it, they are not Bill Gates.
“For me, as long as people eat meat and wear leather, I don’t get the message.”
The number of luxury brands scrapping fur is growing, from Michael Kors and Prada to Burberry and Diane von Furstenberg. In October, California became the first state to ban the sale and manufacture of new fur products and the third to ban most animals from circus performances.
