Urge the British Fashion Council to Ban Fur and Leather at London Fashion Week

Fur factory farms – cruel and filthy places – have been banned in the UK for 20 years, but the British Fashion Council (BFC) has yet to reflect the changing times and British values by committing to a cruelty-free future. Join us in urging it to ban environmentally destructive fur and leather from its catwalks.

Fur factory farms are revolting places filled with sick, stressed animals. Unable to engage in natural behaviour, the sensitive animals often become so stressed and frustrated by the confinement that they mutilate themselves, chewing on their own legs or tails. At the end of their short lives, they are killed in gruesome ways. Workers poison, gas, electrocute, or drown them – or even skin them alive.

Fur factory farms also pose a serious public health risk. When animals are confined next to each other in wire cages, it’s easy for diseases to spread through the exchange of urine, excrement, pus, and blood. As minks are particularly susceptible to respiratory illnesses, mink farms around the world are becoming dangerous breeding grounds for diseases and have been identified as COVID-19 hotspots.

Leather Destroys the Planet

The BFC has acknowledged that we’re facing a climate catastrophe, yet it has so far failed to implement a ban on environmentally destructive leather products. Animal agriculture, which includes the leather industry, is responsible for nearly one-fifth of all human-induced greenhouse gas emissions, and turning skin into leather requires significant energy and dangerous chemicals, including formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives, and cyanide-based oils, dyes, and finishes.

At slaughterhouses, cows killed for leather may be skinned and dismembered while they’re still conscious – after having endured castration, tail-docking, and dehorning, without any painkillers, on farms.

Sustainable and animal-friendly vegan leather can be made from the prickly pear cactus, mushroom, apple, pineapple, and other innovative materials.

Take Action

While recent London Fashion Week events have been fur-free thanks to compassionate designers, the BFC has yet to prohibit the skin of tortured animals from appearing on its catwalks. Please join us in calling on the BFC to adopt an official fur- and leather-free policy immediately.

View Message +

Mr

David

Pemsel

British Fashion Council

Dear Mr Pemsel:

In the interests of animal welfare, the ongoing climate catastrophe, and public safety, I’m writing to urge you to ban the display of leather and fur from British Fashion Council events – including London Fashion Week’s influential catwalks.

On fur factory farms overseas, animals typically spend their entire lives confined to cramped, filthy cages, where they have no opportunity to engage in natural behaviour. The stress of this extreme confinement often drives them insane, and fighting, self-mutilation, and cannibalism are common. At the end of their miserable lives, they face a horrific death – often by gassing, electrocution, or poisoning. Many different species raised for their fur are susceptible to human respiratory viruses and can amplify the spread and mutation of coronaviruses and other deadly pathogens.

PETA exposés have revealed how gentle cows and bulls endure the terror of live export and are electroshocked and beaten before being killed for their skin. Leather production also destroys the planet: studies within the fashion industry have identified leather as the worst environmental offender based on its greenhouse gas emissions, toxicity, and energy, water, and land use. Turning skin into leather requires significant energy and dangerous chemicals, including formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives, and cyanide-based oils, dyes, and finishes. “Vegetable tanned” leather is almost as bad, because over 90% of the impact occurs before the skins are sent to tanneries.

The BFC chair has expressed that the pandemic was a wake-up call for the fashion industry and an opportunity to rethink its relationship with the planet. In the interests of animals, the environment, and public safety, please ban fur and leather at all BFC events.

Yours sincerely,

{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}

Urge the BFC to Ban Fur and Leather at London Fashion Week

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Urge the British Fashion Council to Ban Fur and Leather at London Fashion Week

Leather Destroys the Planet

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Urge the BFC to Ban Fur and Leather at London Fashion Week

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