FOUR PAWS: Fashion giant Gucci commits to fur-free policy
Huge success for the world’s largest non-profit coalition against fur fashion
International animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS, along with The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), Italian animal welfare organisation Lega Anti Vivisezione (LAV) and the Fur Free Alliance (FFA), are pleased to announce that the leading global fashion house Gucci has declared that it will no longer use animal fur, beginning with its spring summer 2018 collection.
Gucci’s President and CEO, Marco Bizzarri, announced the fur-free policy yesterday during the 2017 Kering Award for Sustainable Fashion ceremony in London. Gucci’s commitment follows a long-standing relationship with members of the Fur Free Alliance, a global coalition of more than 40 animal protection organisations working together to end the fur trade.
Gucci’s fur-free policy includes mink, coyote, raccoon dog, fox, rabbit, and karakul (otherwise known as swakara, persian lamb or astrakhan) and all species specially bred or caught for fur production.
As the Australian representative of the Fur Free Alliance’s Fur Free Retailer Program, FOUR PAWS Australia commends the decision taken by Gucci.
Due to inadequate labelling laws, these cruel products are not always easy to distinguish from their synthetic, cruelty-free alternatives.
“Gucci’s announcement shows that ethical consumption and animal welfare have become more and more important to luxury labels,” said Thomas Pietsch, Wild Animal Expert at FOUR PAWS.
“Instead of real fur from tortured animals, modern consumers wish to buy sustainable and innovative cruelty-free products. We are confident that Gucci’s great decision will be followed by many leading high fashion companies that have been an important sales segment for the fur industry in the past.”
Gucci joins many other leading fashion brands and retailers in going fur-free – including Armani, HUGO BOSS, Yoox Net-a-Porter, Stella McCartney and more – and will be part of the international Fur Free Retailer Program which has been signed by 750 retailers worldwide already.
Every year, more than 100 million animals are killed by the fur industry. Minks, foxes and raccoon dogs suffer on fur farms in tiny wire mesh cages, other species meet a cruel death in traps. For the processing of hides to produce fur fashion, high amounts of hazardous chemicals and energy are used. FOUR PAWS campaigns for a permanent ban on the keeping and killing of fur animals and an end of the use of real fur in the fashion industry.
Joh Vinding, Chairman of Fur Free Alliance, commented: “For decades, animals in the fur industry have been subjected to intense cruelty, living their entire lives in miserable, filthy cages. Gucci’s new fur free policy marks a game-changer for the whole luxury fashion industry to follow. Gucci is taking a bold stand for animals, showing the world that the future of fashion is fur-free.”
Elise Burgess
Head of CommunicationsM: 0423 873 382
FOUR PAWS Australia
GPO Box 2845
SYDNEY NSW 2001
Main Phone: 1800 454 228
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About FOUR PAWS
FOUR PAWS is the global animal welfare organisation for animals under direct human influence, which reveals suffering, rescues animals in need and protects them.
Founded in 1988 in Vienna by Heli Dungler and friends, the organisation advocates for a world where humans treat animals with respect, empathy and understanding. The sustainable campaigns and projects of FOUR PAWS focus on companion animals including stray dogs and cats, animals in fashion, farm animals, and wild animals – such as bears, big cats, and orangutans – kept in inappropriate conditions as well as in disaster and conflict zones.
With offices in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Kosovo, the Netherlands, Switzerland, South Africa, Thailand, Ukraine, the UK, the USA, and Vietnam as well as sanctuaries for rescued animals in eleven countries, FOUR PAWS provides rapid help and long-term solutions. www.four-paws.org.au