Anti-fur groups target London Fashion Week

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Feb 19, 2018

A series of anti-fur protests have been held at London Fashion Week events over the weekend, despite many big fashion names banning fur from their collections.

A woman shouting “Shame on all of you!” crashed the Mary Katrantzou catwalk show on Sunday evening. She was part of UK activist group Surge, which called the public to join a three-day protest against designers using fur outside LFW’s venue at 180 The Strand.

This is the fourth time the activist group has protested against London Fashion Week, with the aim of abolishing fur on the catwalks of London.

PETA UK also organised its own demonstration at The Store Studios on Friday, with a group of topless women holding signs and showing off bold writing across their chests to draw attention to the cruelty surrounding in the production of fur, leather, shearling, and other animal-derived materials.

It said the leather industry is responsible for the deaths of over a billion animals every year, and shearing sheds in the world’s biggest wool-exporting countries have been found to host practices such as kicking, punching and mutilating animals.

With the slogan ‘Wear Your Own Skin’ painted across their bodies, the activists encouraged passers-by to reject fur, leather, shearling, and other animal-derived materials and choose instead vegan fashion.

Alana, one of the women who participated in the demonstration, said: “In the fur and leather industries, animals’ skins are peeled off – sometimes while they’re fully conscious. While those foxes, cows, rabbits, and other animals have no say in what happens to their bodies, we do. I’m glad I live in a society where women like us are free to use our minds and bodies as political instruments to raise awareness of animal suffering.”

Both Surge and Peta acknowledged recent efforts by international fashion brands to embrace cruelty-free fashion, however Surge said London Fashion Week “continues to provide the largest platform for fur in the UK”.

Gucci, Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo are some of the brands that announced plans to remove fur from their collections in 2017.