London Fashion Week Announces That Its September 2018 Runways Will Be Fur Free

On Thursday Burberry announced a series of changes around the brand's new no fur policy and its decision to use recycled packaging and to stop burning excess, unsold inventory. 

The welcome news is followed by the announcement of the British Fashion Council that London Fashion Week will be fur free. The victory is the result of a decade-long series of negotiations between key anti-fur activists and protesters at London Fashion Week. The protesters increased dramatically from 25 in 2016 to more than 250 last September, according to The Guardian. 

The council’s chief executive, Caroline Rush, said the 100% fur-free event this month “highlights a trend we have seen over the past few years, with more and more brands deciding to use alternative materials to fur”.

This week, the animal rights group Peta published an open letter by the singer Paloma Faith to the BFC’s recently appointed chair, Stephanie Phair, asking her to take a stand on behalf of the organisation and introduce a fur-free policy.

“The BFC shouldn’t be endorsing a material whose production is deemed so cruel that it is outlawed in the UK,” she wrote, referring to the ban on fur farming which was implemented in the UK in 2003, despite the import of animal fur remaining legal.

Rush responded saying although “as an organisation we believe in the rights of people and animals and encourage designers to make ethical choices”, the BFC has not implemented a complete ban as it does “not define or control the creative process of the designers” showing their collections. “Using fur is not illegal in the UK and it needs to come down to the choice of both the designer and ultimately the consumer.”

“The fur dialogue is ongoing and the stance of brands such as Burberry, Stella McCartney, Gucci, Yoox Net-A-Porter, Versace and Vivienne Westwood, among others, to look at alternative options to fur will encourage more brands to consider what options are available to them.”

Rush notes that replacing fur with synthetics can be equally damaging to the environment, even if it ends animal suffering. Read on at The Guardian for a meaty article on this complex topic.