The fashion luxury conglomerate behind Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen and Balenciaga has banned the use of animal fur across all of its brands by fall 2022.
“The time has now come,” said Kering CEO and Chairman, François-Henri Pinault, in a short statement issued on Friday. “The world has changed, along with our clients, and luxury naturally needs to adapt to that.”
“When it comes to animal welfare, our Group has always demonstrated its willingness to improve practices within its own supply chain and the luxury sector in general,” he noted.
PETA’s association activists brandish posters in front of a Yves Saint-Laurent store to call on the brand to stop using fur in Paris on March 10, 2021. Credit: Alain Jocard/AFP/Getty
This next step to definitively abolish fur production across the company comes just two years after Kering published a set of animal welfare standards that aimed to “verify the humane treatment of animals across the Group’s supply chains,” including requirements on “the treatment of cattle, calves, sheep and goats throughout their entire lives.” Anything outlined in 2019, Kering has said, will continue to be applied to other “animal fibres and materials” potentially in use.
“I urge all designers to do the same,” she said.
Top image: A photo from Alexander McQueen’s Fall-Winter 2015 collection at Paris Fashion Week which included fur. The brand committed to ceasing fur production in April 2021.
