Wildlife. Not Fashion.

Wildlife

Cruelty is out of fashion

Some brands are still making products from wild animals’ skin, fur and feathers.
And most major fashion events allow this clothing to adorn their catwalks.

Let’s stop fashion brands profiting from wild animals’ skin, fur and feathers.

Fashion can be fun, creative and a wonderful way to express ourselves. But sadly, animal cruelty in the fashion industry is still rife. Millions of wild animals are being caged, abused and slaughtered each year in the name of the next trend.

While many designers are embracing innovative, humane materials, some brands are still making products from wild animals’ skin, fur and feathers. And most major fashion events allow this clothing to adorn their catwalks.

Wild animals aren’t ours to use for clothing, bags and shoes.

Yet right now:

mink, foxes, chinchillas and raccoon dogs are slaughtered for their fur
crocodiles, alligators, snakes and lizards are farmed for their skin
ostriches and peacocks are exploited for their feathers

And many more species are bred, shot and trapped for fashion. These are wild animals that deserve wild lives in their natural habitats. Instead, they endure lives of terrible suffering before being slaughtered to make expensive clothes.

The worst part is, it’s needless cruelty. Consumers are turning away from brands that make clothes from wild animals. 72% of people say they wouldn’t buy them, and 65% say killing wild animals for fashion is unacceptable.

To find out more about animal cruelty in the fashion industry, read our research with Collective Fashion Justice:

Read our full report here

Fashion shows should be leading the way

Of the four biggest fashion shows – London, New York, Milan and Paris – only London has gone fur-free, and that’s it.

Right now, not one of these fashion weeks has ruled out wild animal skin or feathers. Even London’s announcement on fur hasn’t been backed by a strong policy.

By allowing clothing, shoes and accessories made from wild animals on their runways, they’re driving demand for animal products.

To help end the suffering of millions of animals, flagship fashion festivals such as London Fashion Week must urgently ban wild animal skin, fur, and feathers.

As long as clothing made from wild animal skin, fur and feathers is showcased on catwalks around the world, animals will continue to suffer.

Lives of immense suffering

Whether animals are trapped or shot in the wild, or kept in cages before being slaughtered, they endure horrific suffering.

On factory farms wild animals are bred and killed in grim conditions to supply the fashion industry.

These farms subject animals to appalling treatment and deny them the chance to carry out natural behaviours, causing immense stress.

Saltwater crocodiles travel for hundreds of kilometres in the wild. In factory farms, they can be caged so tightly they can’t turn around and may spend months standing in murky water on concrete floors. They’re way they’re slaughtered causes prolonged distress and suffering: crocodiles are electrically stunned, then cut and left to bleed out, before finally being killed with a bolt to the brain.
Ostriches naturally move for up to 7.5 hours a day, often running at high speeds. On farms, they’re packed into small spaces, often with little or no protection from the elements. Ostriches killed in slaughterhouses are stunned electrically or with a bolt gun, before being chained, hung upside down and left to bleed out. This brutal process may happen in front of other birds.
Mink are solitary, territorial animals that roam widely and spend much of their lives in the water. On factory farms, they’re trapped with many others in tiny cages, where they harm themselves and each other due to stress. They’re then cruelly gassed to death.

Cruelty-free fashion

We know that a kinder, more sustainable fashion industry is possible.

But it will take innovation, creativity and a commitment to animal welfare.

First, fashion events must take the lead in making animal cruelty unacceptable on their catwalks.

Already, Melbourne, Stockholm and Helsinki fashion weeks have all banned fur and wild animal skin.

Now, we’re calling on the British Fashion Council to make London Fashion Week free from any wildlife products.

Together, we can convince the fashion industry to respect wild animals, and keep them off the catwalk and out of our shops.

Want to help end animal cruelty in the fashion industry?

Join us to get emails when there’s an action you can take.

Sign up now

_{Image credits: Hero image 2: Jo-Anne McArthur | We Animals Media}